When I Said I Wanted a Change in Scenery
by An Arm and a Leg
Summary: ...This isn't what I meant. Angeline Morgan wishes to be in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. Unfortunately, she gets her wish. Very, very, VERY eventual EdxOC. Formerly known as A Brighter Flame, Another Hope.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, guys! This is Angeline Morgan(The writer personality) with the ****very****first story on this account! **

**Matilda(The fangirl personality): Since this is our first time, please don't flame. Constructive criticism is welcome. Tell me what we can do to make this better and give us ideas, please!**

**Piper(The psycho personality): Yes, the prologue is rewritten. Probably why we're on this. Besides the point. We'd like you to review if you can. Now, get to reading!**

Prologue

The white place faded away to reality. Time sped up. With a slightly guttural cry, I leapt forward, clapped my hands, and transmuted the air to pin Father to the ground. He struggled, but couldn't free himself. Looked like he was out of extra power. Lucky for me.

"Mei."

The young girl looked at me, startled. Tears still shone on her face. I kept my voice calm and composed.

"Can you please heal Ed? Or at least fix him?"

"But-"

"Just. Do. It." Mei gave me a slightly frightened look, but made her way to Ed and drew a circle. She placed her hands on the circle, and it glowed for a second before fading away. I looked at his body, now with a healed neck. If not for the fact that his eyes were wide open, dull with death and still showing shock, he might have been simply sleeping-

No.

Concentrate, Lina.

"Bring him here."

In a minute, I had everything ready. I took a deep breath, preparing for the plunge into that place, then let it out.

I was not going to let that thing take Edward. Not today.

I clapped my hands and brought them down on the Homunculus and the body of the boy I now realised I loved.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yeah, the first chappie wasn't really a chapter...sorry. That's why I'm uploading more! So, without further ado, Chapter One!**

* * *

_October 3, 2014_

It was 9 o'clock at night. I was technically supposed to be asleep, but I wasn't going to bed just yet.

I nestled under the covers, all warm and comfortable, reading one of my favorite books (Actually, it was really manga), Fullmetal Alchemist. I was on the last novel.

I finished and I sighed in happiness. I loved Fullmetal Alchemist. The drama, the humor, the emotions…

Before slipping under the covers, I shivered. It was cold tonight, so I decided to wear my robe to sleep. As an afterthought, I slipped my mp3 player into the robe's pocket.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wished that I lived in the same world as Edward Elric did.

Yeah.

Big mistake.

I woke up to a deafening whooshing noise. Groggily, I turned around and covered my head with my pillow. "Quiet!" I mumbled. "I'm trying to sleep!"

Then it sank in. I shot up, throwing my pillow aside. I couldn't believe what I saw.

Right in front of me was a huge open stone door. Black hands reached out of it, grasping at me.

"Oh, no," I moaned, trying to get away. "Oh, no, no, no. This can't be happening. This is all a bad dream. That isn't what I think it is. Please tell me that isn't what I think it is."

Sadly, it wasn't a dream (though I didn't realize it yet) and it was what I thought it was.

The portal of Truth.

From Fullmetal Alchemist.

My wish was coming true.

I screamed as the hands caught me and began pulling me towards them. I tried kicking out, trying to get them to relinquish their hold. "Help!" I yelled, one last time.

Then I was gone.

* * *

I found myself in a white room with nothing in it. Slowly, I turned around, trying to find out where I was.

"Hello?" I called out. "Anybody there?"

All I heard was my echo.

Then I heard it.

"Oh." It sounded intrigued. "It's one of them."

I spun around, trying to locate the speaker. Then I saw it.

It was Truth. From Fullmetal Alchemist.

I was confused. Was this a dream? Had I imagined the hands? This was by far the creepiest dream yet.

"Truth? Is that you?"

It grinned. "I would be worried for your sanity if it wasn't me."

"Tell me what's going on," I demanded, "Or else I'll beat you up…" I faltered as I realized how dumb my threat was. "...Or...uh...something like that…" I finished lamely.

It snorted. "It wouldn't have any effect, but it would certainly be amusing to observe. Anyways, it seems as you must enter my world. No matter. I do demand a price, though."

The gates opened slowly, and the black arms began reaching for me again. I screamed in terror as Truth continued, oblivious.

"Since you're already coming in, I might as well have some fun. I think I'll change some things, make things exciting." It waved as the doors began to close. "Enjoy, my dear dimensional traveler!"


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oh, yeah...disclaimers.**

**I DON'T OWN ED! OR ANYONE IN FMA, FOR THAT MATTER! IF I DID, THERE WOULD BE A ****LOT**** MORE ROMANCE!**

**...oh, by the way, this chapter is kinda gory.**

* * *

_October 3,1910_

Pain. So much pain. All I could think of was how much I hurt, how much I wanted-No, needed it to stop, how I needed someone to help me.

I tried to scream, but my vocal cords wouldn't respond. I grabbed the source of the pain-my left arm-to find nothing.

My arm was gone. Blood was seeping from the empty space.

I vaguely saw myself stumble to my feet from wherever I landed and walk forward to the nearest house. Through a red haze, I read the sign on the front of the house: Rockbell Automail.

I made it as far as the door and slumped against it. Somebody opened the door and I fell through.

The last thing I saw was an old woman with her gray hair in a bun looking at me with surprise.

* * *

I woke up feeling terrible. For a second, I kept my eyes closed, feeling how the room felt. _Why is my room so bright?_

Then I remembered. My eyes flew open and I shot up.

The old woman from before was sleeping in a chair near me. Next to her, a blond girl with blue eyes rushed over to the bed next to me. A boy with blond hair and golden eyes was standing there, looking worriedly at the other boy on the bed.

The boy on the bed had blond hair, like the boy next to him. Blood soaked the sheets near his left leg.

I wasn't sure whether to fangirl or scream.

That was Edward Elric on the bed. His brother Alphonse Elric was standing next to him.

Winry was the girl attending him. Pinako was the one who brought me in.

I was in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Even as I thought this, a thought hit me.

Al was human. He was supposed to have been armor by now.

Something was wrong.

Pinako woke up. "Oh, you're up, girl? Gave us a scare when we found you outside."

I barely heard her. As quick as I could, I leaped out of the bed and ran to the other bed. As Pinako cried in surprise, I grabbed the front of Ed's shirt and pulled him towards me. He looked at me with startled golden eyes.

"What did you give up?" I hissed. When he still looked at me, stunned, I shook him. "WHAT DID YOU GIVE UP?!"

I know what he saw: a girl with long messy black hair shaking him, something he couldn't place in her ice-blue eyes.

"That...thing...said that I gave up my portal." He said in a whisper.

I immediately dropped him and looked at him with panic. So that's what it meant when it said that it had changed some things.

If Al hadn't lost his body, that meant that Ed didn't have to look for the Philosopher's Stone-Al still had his body.

If Ed had used the Portal of Truth to get Al back, then he couldn't become a State Alchemist and actually become the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Which meant that he never ran into the Homunculi.

Which meant that they were never stopped.

Which meant that the world, with me in it, would be annihilated.

I had to do something.

I thought furiously for a solution.

Mustang. He was coming soon, if not already here.  
I had to meet him.

Pinako had reached me by now and was looking at me strangely. "Hey, what's this about? Are you okay?"

I shrugged her off. "There's something I have to do. I'm sorry if I am scaring anybody."

As I headed towards the door, I happened to look in a mirror. What I saw was a girl with muddy clothes and a wild look in her eyes. I was still wearing my pajamas and robe from the night before. What was different, though, was the fact that I looked like I was 11. I was 13, though.

"I'm the same age as Ed now," I realized, then shook off any bad feelings and ran out the door.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: OH MY GODS, OH MY GODS, OH MY GODS, I HAS REVIEWS! *Jumps up and down screaming*. Thank you ****soooo**** much for taking time to review, ****Anthem of the Lonely**** and ****yoyowezy****! *hands over cyber cookies* For that, I'm uploading ****two**** chapters today!**

**Gonna quickly reply to Anthem:**** Thanks for the title ideas! I'm definitely going to take your summary advice(how'd you know that it was an EdxOC? Are you psychic? O.o) and while I don't want to make Angeline a Mary-Sue *shudders at thought*, I'm going to keep the name for two reasons: 1) This came to me in a dream, so I kinda want to make me the main character, and 2) I'm technically ****not**** Angeline Morgan-it's a pen name.**

**ANYWAYS! Please read and review if you can, if there is someone who can beta this, I'd appreciate it, just PM me, send me a review if you have ideas for what happens next(I haven't got all of the events solidified yet), and ENJOY!**

* * *

It may seem like I'm a Mary-Sue right now, with me waking up and then racing off calmly to save the day. Honestly, the only things running through my head were things like: _OmygodsomygodsEdsrealI'minFmaOmygodsOmygodsOmygods*pant*pant*pant*AAAAAGHHHHHHH!_

Yeah. My mental state was not the best.

I was just in time to see Roy Mustang pull up in a small cart near the Elric's house. I shook my head to clear my mind and ran as fast as I could to get to the door before he could. Luckily, I made it, just managing to not crash into the door.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, sir!" I said, turning around and snapping into a clumsy salute.

He gave a start. "How do you know me?"

"It doesn't matter." I said. "Before you go in, I need your help with something."

He looked at me. "You're just a civilian, and just an 11-year-old girl to boot. Why should I listen to you?"

I looked back at him. "I can tell you things that will happen in the future. All I need is for you to help me transmute something."

He opened his mouth, probably prepared to tell me that I didn't need his help, but I cut him off. "Please, sir. It's a matter of life and death for this country."

His mouth closed. He thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right. I'll help you, but if this is illegal…"

_Whoops_. I thought. _Man, you are __really_ _not going to like what we're gonna do, then_.

"Okay. Meet me at midnight here. Alone."

My plan was set in motion.

* * *

I returned to find Pinako glaring at me.

"What is going on, girl?! The minute you wake up, you grab Ed and act like you know him, then run out the door!"

"I'm sorry." I said. "I just had to do some things quickly."

"You know," Ed called from the dinner table, where he was eating, "I'd like to know who you are, why you appeared at the Rockbells', and why you grabbed me."

I paled a bit. What was I going to say? I didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him the truth-what would he say? For heaven's sake, I was a fangirl!

"I- I- " I decided to bend the truth. "My name's Angeline Diana Morgan. My parents…died in the Ishbalan war. I was running from some bad people. They attacked me."

Pinako's expression softened, but Ed wasn't convinced. "You haven't answered my last question."

I looked at him and couldn't bring myself to lie. "I can't tell you yet."

His eyebrows drew together. "What do you mean, _yet_?"

"Will you please allow me to live here?" I asked Pinako, evading the question.

Pinako looked surprised. "Don't you have any family?"

"No." I told her. "And with those...people...after me…" My voice trailed off.

Winry looked sorry for me. Ed looked suspicious. I honestly couldn't blame him.

"Of course." Pinako told me. I gave her a grateful smile and sat down at the table, where a bowl was waiting for me.

"Oh, and do you have a prosthetic arm I can use for now?"

* * *

"What do you really want?"

I looked at Ed. His eyes were narrowed with suspicion.

I felt bad. He probably thought that I was trying to kill him or the Rockbells. "Ed," I said gently, "I'm on your side. I don't want to tell you everything just yet, though. Please, just wait. When you visit your teacher next-" I felt him jump in surprise "-I'll tell you everything."

"How do you know-" I cut him off.

"I'll tell you when the time is right. I need you to come with me to see a military official tonight, though. Please."

He looked at me for a long time.

"Fine."

**Another A/N: You guys should feel lucky-I wrote this on Google Docs, and it takes forever to upload even one chapter because I have to copy and paste this line by line. *acts pathetic***

**Winry: *whacks Angeline* Stop acting pitiful!**

**Angie: Ow! Anyways, REVIEW PLEASE! MAKE MY DAY! I should really start writing...I'm running out of extra chapters...**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: As promised, the second chapter! I am seriously getting a writer's block...if you have ideas, tell me!**

**Oh, yeah. Forgot again.**

**Disclaimer: I am not Hiromi Arakwa. I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I cannot draw to save my life.**

* * *

It was dark and it was cold, but I didn't really care. Al was next to me, pushing a wheelchair with Ed in it.

"Why are we here?" Al asked.

"We need to do something. Do you still have the ingredients for one human being?"

Both of them blanched. "You're going to transmute a human?!" Ed asked in a shaky voice. I laid my hand on his arm, trying to calm him.

"Not in the way that you're thinking. I'm not trying to bring a person back to life."

Then I saw Mustang appear. I nodded to him. He looked at Ed and Al.

"Why are they here?" He asked, jerking his head in their direction.

"I need them, too." I told him, challenging him to argue. He didn't.

"Okay. Shall we go in?"

The boys looked sick. I knew that seeing the remains would bring back bad memories. Ed looked especially horrified. I looked at them. "I'm sorry you have to come," I whispered to them, "But I need you to." Mustang walked ahead, oblivious to the reactions of Ed and Al.

We walked in and were immediately hit with the stench of blood. Mustang had an odd look on his face as he walked into the room where they had tried to bring back their mother yesterday.

The floor was still stained with blood, but the thing that they had made was gone.

Mustang looked at it in horror. "What happened?" He finally choked out.

"It doesn't matter." I said. "Al, get the materials."

"Materials?!" Mustang exclaimed.

"Please." I begged. "I know that this looks bad, but you have to let me do this. I know what I'm doing." I didn't really, but I doubted that telling him that would help my case.

We put all of the ingredients for a human in the center of the transmutation circle that Ed and Al had used for their mother.

"Ed," I commanded, "Get in the circle."

"This is human transmutation!" Mustang was as white as a ghost. "You said that this wouldn't be illegal! What are you trying to do?!"

Looked like I would have to tell. "Lt. Colonel, please. I promise to you that as soon as this is done, I will tell you everything."

"But not us?!" Al exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you, but I can tell Mustang."

"Fine." Mustang said. "I'll help you, but you are telling me everything."

"Fine." Anything to get this done.

Ed was put in the middle of the circle, next to the ingredients. Together, Al, Mustang, and I placed our hands (me using the prosthetic arm for my left) on the circle.

Blue light began shining out of the circle. Right on cue, the light turned purple and black hands sprouted out of the circle's lines.

"Brace yourself!" I called out to an ashen-faced Mustang. I looked over to Ed and Al. _I'm sorry_, I mouthed. _I'm sorry_.

And then I was in the Portal of Truth.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: YAY! I'm so happy! Thank you to everyone who took time to read this, a big thank you to those who faved or is following my story, and a HUGE thank you to my reviewers!**

**Unfortunately, I may have to make my uploading slower-I'm running out of extra chapters and it takes a while to write a new one. Sorry! The good news, though, is that I have decided to take pity on you since this is a fairly short chappie and give you another one!**

**By the way, this chapter(and the last one) is based on a theory I have about the cost of things like the soul and the body. This whole story, though, came from a dream I had. Very odd dream, too.**

**I should let you read. ENJOY, then, and please, review and tell me if:**

**-Anyone is OOC**

**-My facts are wrong**

**-Angeline is a *shudder* Mary-Sue**

**Pretty much if anything is wrong.**

**THANK YOU FOR READING!**

**Disclaimer: If I was Arakawa-San, why would I be on this site instead of getting money off of this?**

* * *

Truth was standing in front of me, now with a left arm.

"Back again?" It asked me.

"Yeah. I kinda need the Portal."

It nodded sagely. "That you do. Well, looks like I have to give the Fullmetal pipsqueak's Portal back. On the bright side, I can open your Portal along with Mustang's and get something out of it."

"Wait, what? But I came in through the Portal!"

It gave me a knowing smile. "Doesn't mean I opened it."

The doors behind me opened, revealing the black hands behind them. I screamed as they grabbed me and pulled me towards them-just like last time.

"I'll collect my payment when you come back!" Truth called out in front of me.

The doors closed.

* * *

How to describe what happened next?

My head was suddenly filled with all of the information in the world. It was like downloading the contents of the Internet into my brain all at once. Information flashed before my eyes. It was disconcerting and overwhelming.

And then it was all over.

I found myself back in the Portal, my back to the Doors. Truth was standing in front of me.

"Well?" It asked. "Did you enjoy your experience?"

"It-it was-" I tried to sort out the information in my head and describe it. "It was so much to take in."

"No agony? Nothing?"

I was confused. "Why would I be in agony?" Then I remembered something.

When Ed's Portal was opened, he had experienced agony until he had found some clarity in it.

So why didn't I feel agony?

"Anyways," Truth said, interrupting my thoughts, "You owe me now."

"Wait, what?! But I didn't want to see any of that!" I protested.

"Sorry, dear. My land," It said, grinning madly, "My rules."

It stood up, and I could see a right leg-my right leg-begin to form on it.

"Bye now!"


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yeah, the leg thing was kinda cliche. Oh, well.**

**Oh, yeah...if anyone could beta for me, I'd appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I lied to you all...I actually AM Hiromi Arakawa! **

**No...I'm not.**

* * *

I was back, and I was in agony. Again.

My right leg (or should I say, the stump that was my right leg) bled like crazy. For some reason, though, it didn't hurt as much as it did when my arm was taken.

Al was gone. In his place were his empty clothes.

"No!" Ed's cry filled the room. I saw him stumble off of the wheelchair that he was on and crawl out of the circle to where Al had been.

Mustang looked like he was in shock. He looked at me and the empty space that Al had been in with horror.

Instinct took over. I crawled over to Ed, who had reached Al's spot, and quickly hugged him. He stiffened, then relaxed and began crying. I felt tears fill my eyes.

A suit of armor crashed to the ground.

The sound snapped me out of it. Armor. I pulled Ed away from me and slapped him as hard as I could. He stared at me in surprise.

"Snap out of it!" I yelled. "We can still bring him back!"

Comprehension crossed his face. "The armor…" he whispered. His eyes regained a bit of their fire.

As one, we made our way to the fallen armor. His leg began bleeding again, but we ignored it. When we reached the suit, we both pulled off the helmet. The neck of the armor was exposed.

Using our blood, we created a rune-the exact same rune in the original series. As we put our hands together, I thought, _Give him back! There is __no_ _way that I'm going to let you win! Give-Him-Back!  
_  
And for the third time in two days, I was back at the Portal.

_This is getting tiring._

* * *

"Again?" Truth sounded pained.

"Hey, I don't want to do this, either."

"Fine, I'll make this simple." Truth waved a hand-my hand. "I'll take your leg and the Fullmetal shrimp's arm. Sound good?"

"All right." I turned to leave, then stopped. "But...why are you being so nice?"

It snorted. "I'm not being nice, I'm being fair. I do have a soft spot for your kind, though. You never cease to amaze me."

"My type?"

It opened its mouth to answer, but before it could, the doors pulled me back, leaving me puzzling over its odd words.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm back! From now on, I'm planning to post new chapters every weekend. Sorry if I don't though.**

**By the way, I want to thank my new beta, ****Anthem of the Lonely****, for taking the time to help me with this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.**

* * *

Mustang sat at the foot of my bed and glared at me. I glared back.

It had been two days since I had brought back Ed's Portal. Two days since Al's soul had been brought back. Hawkeye had come into the house, and she and Mustang had stayed here for the two days.

Mustang wanted answers.

"I'll wait until you recover," he told me, "but I want to know everything. What did you do, what was that…thing, and what did it do to me?"

It was time, it seemed.

"Fine," was all I said. I turned to Pinako. "Is there a place where Lieutenant Colonel Mustang and I can talk? Alone?"

She pointed to a room, looking concerned. "Is something wrong?"

I forced a smile. "No, Ms. Rockbell. Everything's fine. We just have some things to say." I tried to move. "Can you help me to a wheelchair?"

* * *

We (well, he-I rolled) walked into the room and I closed the door.

"So," he began, "answers. Who are you really and what happened that night?"

I sighed. How to begin? "Well, before I say anything, you must believe everything I say. I assure you that it is the truth."

He nodded, his face as hard as stone.

"I'm from the future. Not only that, but I am from a world where the only place alchemy exists is in a fictional book." As an afterthought, I added, "And in television shows."

For a second, his stony mask broke as he tried to not show his surprise. Then he scowled.

"You're lying. I bet that you're a spy from Xing, trying to get information so that you can invade. Or you're insane."

I groaned. "I just told you that I'm not lying. And I'm not crazy. And I've never been to Xing, but I know that they're not trying to invade."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth, then? This is an insane claim!"

"What do you want me to tell you, then? Your past?"

"How would you know anything about my past?"

Now I was getting slightly annoyed. "Listen, that book I was talking about? You're in it. I know a reasonable amount about you."

"Fine. Tell me something about me."

"You were in the Ishbalan War. It was there that you were reunited with Riza Hawkeye, who was called the Hawk's Eye during the war." I could see him getting paler. "You and Maes Hughes talked about your early days, when you were full of ambition, and about how your eyes had turned into a killer's eyes. You were asked to burn off the tattoos on Riza Hawkeye's back, which held the secret to flame alchemy; you refused. You-"

"That's enough!" He cut me off, still looking very pale. "This doesn't prove anything, though. You could be a stalker, for all I know."

Frankly, I was getting irritated. How could I prove myself?

I slipped my hand into the pocket of my robe and felt something small. My mp3 player. I had forgotten that I still had it.

I pulled it out and showed it to Mustang. He rose his eyebrows. "What is that?" He asked.

"A music player." I handed him the earbuds. "Put it in." He reluctantly put the earbuds in his ear and I played Reminiscence, which, ironically, came from the Fullmetal Alchemist anime show. A look of amazement was on his face.

Finally, he took the earbuds out and said. "I believe you, but why did you ask me to help? Why those boys? And what was that thing in that white place? What did it do?"

"That was the Portal of Truth. The person inside was Truth. You could call it God."

"God?!"

I held up a hand. "Yes, now let me finish. It opened your Doors. Your Doors are the things that let you perform alchemy. Because it opened it, you can now perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. And Ed and Al-" I swallowed hard. "They...are an important part of this. Without them, the world would be in grave danger. I asked you to help in case something went wrong. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if I could use alchemy."

Finally, he asked the question that I knew would eventually come up. "What did they do?"

I gulped. "They...performed human transmutation."

"What?!"

"Please," I told him hurriedly, "I need you on my side. The fate of the world depends on it."

He got his anger in check and nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Be angry, but I need you to offer them a chance at being a State Alchemist."

"Tell me why."

"I...I…" I sighed. "You must not tell anyone."

"I swear."

"That boy, Edward Elric, will become the Fullmetal Alchemist. From there, he will attempt to find the Philosopher's Stone and get his brother's body back. He will find a evil group set on destroying the world in order to become God, and will defeat them. He needs to become a State Alchemist to set this in motion."

Mustang gaped. Yup. I was a major spoiler.

"You play a big role in this, too, Roy." I told him. "You will get out of this alive."

He seemed to gain confidence in this, and nodded. "I'll do it." He told me.

He headed out to the door, but I stopped him. "Wait."

He looked at me quizzically. I gulped and told him, "In the story...Hughes dies." His face showed grief as I said this. I knew that Hughes was a good friend of his. I went on. "I care about him, and seeing as I have no way home, I will do everything I can to save him. I'll tell you when the time draws close."

He struggled to contain his emotions. Finally, his face went back to its stony look and he nodded, opening the door and walking out.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Hey, Chibi," I called out to Ed. "Do you think you could find me a teacher? I need to train, become stronger."

It had been five days since Mustang left. He had offered Ed a change to become a State Alchemist, and nodded to me before leaving. Since then, both of us had recovered fully. I had decided to use this time to become friends with Winry and the Elric brothers. Al was very welcoming, but Ed was wary. It took a bit before he began to relax around me.

"Why do you need a teacher? You only have one arm and leg." He looked at me oddly. "And what does 'chibi' mean?"

I smirked. "To answer your second question, it means pipsqueak." I ignored him as he tried to kill me, restrained only by Al. "To answer your first one, I'm going to get automail. I know that you're thinking of taking Lieutenant Colonel Mustang's offer and I'm going to help you, whether you want me to or not."

He looked a bit surprised. "Why? You barely know me."

It was a very good question. After all, I had already done my part in the story-retrieve Ed's Portal. What else would I need to do?

The answer was simple. Truth could manipulate the story more after this-after all, it was God. If I wasn't there to stop it, bad things could happen. Not only that, but I was a fangirl. It would be stupid to leave my idol to fend for himself, even if I was struggling to contain my fangirl screams around him. The automail surgery may be excruciating, but it was a small price to pay for limbs that would function as well as I needed them to.

I decided to give Ed the simplest answer. "I appeared here for a reason, and I'm going to do everything I can to do what I need to." I grinned evilly. "You're never going to get rid of me."

He sighed, resigned to his fate. "You could go to my teacher, Izumi Curtis." Exactly what I wanted to hear.

"Are you going to get automail, too?" I asked quietly. "It's gonna hurt like hell and take about a year to adjust to."

He gave a small smirk. "Hey, you're going to do it, too. And I lost two limbs a few days ago. Getting a few limbs can't hurt as much as that."

* * *

Yeah, right.

The surgery hurt like hell. I was in agony, but losing two limbs had helped-I could handle it and not scream.

Next to me, Ed shook with the same agony that I was feeling. His hand bunched up the sheets as he gripped them tightly.

As we lay on the beds, racked with pain, I vaguely heard Ed start to speak to Winry and Pinako.

"...It's all my fault Al has that body...He can't eat, sleep, get hurt, or feel...He blames me...He definitely blames me…!"

"That's not true!" Winry protested. Pinako backed her up."Al isn't the sort of boy that would blame you. You'll see by asking him."

"I'm afraid to...I'm too scared to ask." I could tell that he was crying. "That's why I have to restore him as soon as possible…"

On pure instinct, my hand shot up and grasped Ed's, comforting him. "You will do it." I whispered. "I will help you even if I die. I was sent here to help you. I won't ever stop trying to help you. You'll get through this, you will."

We stayed like that until our fevers subsided, each comforting and encouraging the other to keep going.

Of course, we didn't talk about it after we recovered.

* * *

**10.9.14: I just edited this. A reviewer pointed out that he had only one hand at the time, which, to my embarrassment, was true. I have fixed it, and I want to thank that reviewer. Thank you so, so, so much! Yeah, it's a bit fast. I'm working on that.**

**Ciao, bella!  
**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey, guys. As some old readers may be able to tell (if they look back here), this is not the AN that was here before.**

**Mati: We got a glitch and we don't save our ANs. Whoops.**

**Piper: Point being, we're fixing it. And we edited the chapter a little bit. Not too much. Thanks to Satanic-Fanatic for the tip.**

* * *

Chapter Nine

I looked at myself in the mirror mentally evaluating myself. I looked the same as before I landed in FMA, give or take a few years. Same old tangled black hair, same blue eyes, same acne on my forehead...which also meant that I was going to go through puberty again. I sighed and reviewed what had happened since the surgery.

It had taken a bit less than a year for us to recover from the surgery, which was pretty impressive for two 11-year-old kids. Even so, it was a horrible experience. Most of the time was spent in pain, and the rest vomiting blood.

When Edward and I could move without vomiting or experiencing pain, we both sighed-we had new limbs and were done with the horrible experience.

Without looking to Ed, I yelled to him.

"Oi, Chibi-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD SURVIVE ON ONE OXYGEN ATOM?!"

"I didn't say that. Now, as I was saying, I am going to Izumi Curtis to ask if I can study under her. I need to know where she lives."

He turned white. "I-I thought you were kidding." He said weakly. "You really want to go to her?"

"Yes." I gave a crooked smile. "I can't help you if I can't fight at all, now can I, shorty?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING-"

"JUST TELL ME WHERE TO FIND HER ALREADY!" I screamed back in his face. He was taken back.

"Fine, I'll give you her address. No guarantees that she'll accept you, though. Or let you live."

"I'll take my chances." I started packing the things I had appeared in, as well as clothes Pinako had bought for me in a suitcase (which was also from Pinako). As an afterthought, I dug out my mp3 player and put it in the case, too. "You should try for the State Alchemist title while I'm gone. It'll give you something to do while I try to get training. I'll come back when I've finished."

* * *

I looked at the building in front of me. It was a fairly empty butcher's shop. Even without looking at the address that Edward gave me, I knew that it was the home of Izumi Curtis.

Now that I was here, I was beginning to chicken out. I knew how scary the Elric brother's Teacher could be. Did I really want to try to learn with her? She lived in a butcher's shop. She was surrounded by knives, for heaven's sake!

I steeled my resolve. I had been sent here to help Edward and Alphonse. I couldn't help them if I was too weak to fight things like the Homunculi. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the door and stepped inside.

At the counter was a man as big as a mountain, chopping up a piece of beef. He was bigger than I thought he was. I walked up to him, shaking inside.

"Umm...are you Sig Curtis?"

He looked up. "Yes."

I began to fidget under his gaze. "I-Is Izumi Curtis home? I'd like to speak to her."

Sig looked wary. "Why? Are you some kind of government official?"

"No, no!" I shook my head hurriedly. "I-I'm actually here to ask her to train me."

"And why should I train you?" A voice asked from behind me. I jumped. Izumi Curtis was right behind me, a small scowl on her face.

"Oh, Mrs. Curtis!" I turned to her and bowed. "Um, well, I-"

"Out with it!" She snapped.

"I have people I need to protect and I need you to train me so I can protect them!" I blurted. "Please, Mrs. Curtis! It's a matter of life and death and-" I felt tears beginning to form. Ed and Al had become my first friends in this place. If I failed...I would never forgive myself. "And I can't let the person-" No, not the person, not just the person, "-The people I want to protect die." I gave a small sob. "Please."

Her glare softened, then hardened again. "I'll let you train with me," and I realized that there was a catch, "If I deem you worthy after a month's trial."

Honestly, it was better than nothing, but would I really be able to make it? I gulped and steeled myself. I had to make it. I was going to make it, even if I nearly died doing it.

"Thank you, Mrs. Curtis. It means a lot to me."

And so began my training.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm baaaaackkk! Did'ja miss me?**

**Mati: No. You annoy me.**

**Me: *acts hurt* Why, Tilda! I'm you!**

**Mati: Exactly.**

**Me: ...Okay then. ANYWAYS, I'm finally posting after two weeks. Sorry for not updating sooner, but I was writing the chapter about a week ago. Before I hand over the chapter, though, there are two things that I want to say.**

**Mati: What? That you had a dream that you got married and your husband looked like one of your relatives?**

**Me: TILDA! *blushes furiously* Why'd you have to tell them that? No, it's not about my dream!**

**Mati: Oh, okay then. Carry on.**

**Me: Okay, so first, I have something I want to tell people who read this.**

**I know that people are reading my story and I want to thank you soo much for taking the time to click on this and read. I also want to ask you guys to review. I don't care if it's to say hi, or to claim that you read this(even if you didn't). It makes me feel better anyways. Just favoriting or following...it's not really the same. This applies to every story on this site, really. So, if you are reading this: Review every story that you read. Make a writer happy. It means a lot to us. :)**

**Mati: Wow, how preachy.**

**Me: ...Shut up. Anyhoo, my next thing I wanna say is, give a big hand to my friend, beta, and faithful reviewer, ****Anthem of the Lonely****! She's a great writer. Seriously, guys. Read her story. It'll make me happy and it'll make her happy. She's having a bad week with her computer, anyways.**

**Mati: You done? All right then, enjoy-**

**Me: WAIT! I NEARLY FORGOT! Thanks to yoyowezy for the idea for this!**

**Mati: Okay...you done now? THANK you! NOW, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I did, then I would be able to speak Japanese. That would be awesome, but I can't, so I'm not Hiromi Arakawa.**

* * *

"D-Drachma?!"

I stood in front of the border that separated Amestris and Drachma. Izumi and Sig were behind me.

I spun around and gaped at Izumi. "Y-you can't be serious." I stammered. "Drachma?! But-but they hate Amestrians! I'm an Amestrian! They'll kill me!"

"Yup." She said cheerfully. "If you survive, I'll train you. Remember, no alchemy."

I started shaking. I while I had planned to train with Izumi Curtis, I hadn't planned for this.

She noticed. "What are you so scared about? I had to spend a month in the mountains! You're in a city. You'll be fine!"

"Yeah, but you're creepily powerful! And you managed to steal from Fort Briggs!" I protested under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." I hurried to say. It would not go down very well if she knew what I had said. She'd want to know how I knew, then, well…

"Anyways, you should be fine." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh! Almost forgot." She looked at me with a smile that sent shivers down my back. "If you get asked questions, you must tell them that you're a Amestrian spy. And you have to say yes to all of their questions, like if they ask if you're a monster."

"...WHAT?!"

She waved cheerfully and left, calling out from behind her, "See you in a month!"

I would not survive this.

* * *

"Hey, miss!"

I looked down with growing dread at the young girl who was in front of me. "Yeah?" After being abandoned by Izumi, I had decided to walk around and found myself in a market.

"Are you an Amestrian?"

I swallowed hard. "Y-yeah."

She looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and hatred. "Mommy says that all Amestriana are cold-blooded monsters that eat their children. Do you?"

Oof. Even though I wasn't really an Amestrian, that stung. If I wasn't supposed to say yes, I'd be ranting at her.

Instead, I told her, "Yes."

It all went downhill from there.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, attracting everyone's attention. She then ran to her mother and shrieked, "It's an Amestrian, Mommy!"

The whole place went silent. Everyone looked at me.

I gulped. "Uh, hi?" I managed weakly.

"She must be a spy! Get her!" someone shouted, and people ran towards me, faces contorted in hatred.

Finally, I did the smart thing to do: I ran for dear life.

* * *

I sat on top of a large gray building and sighed. It had only been five days, and it was like going through hell. I was forced to steal to eat since I didn't have any money to buy food with, and that just made the Drachmians(is that the name for them?) hate me even more. Now I had a Wanted poster with my name on it.

"Aargh!" I yelled to the sky. "What is the point of this?! I'm learning nothing!"

Ugh, I could just hear Izumi laughing at me from all the way in Dublith.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling from behind me. "Who's there?" I called out, cautiously turning around, prepared for a fight.

Standing behind me was a girl around 13. She was wearing a black cloak with a hood that covered her face.**  
**  
"You're the Amestrian, aren't you?" she asked softly.

I sighed and blew a strand of hair out of my face. "Yeah, what's it to you? You gonna capture me for money or something?" I asked warily.

"Why are you here?"

I inwardly groaned at the thought of having to confirm more ridiculous rumors and replied in a monotone, "I'm a spy for the government." I held out my wrists. "You got me."

She studied me closely. "You're just saying that, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really a spy?"

"Yes."

"Can you say no?"

"Uh-huh."

"Say no."

I sighed. Finally, something that I didn't have to say yes to! "No."

"Are you under orders to say no to every question or something?"

Wow, she caught on quick. "Yeah, actually."

"I can talk to you, though, and you don't have to say yes."

"That's correct."

"You're not a spy."

Urgh, I still had to say yes to that; orders were orders. "Yeah, I am."

She looked at me. "Another order."

I groaned. "Yeah, it is."

There was a moment of silence as she looked at me closely. Finally, she said, "You don't seem evil to me. I can't let you in the house; Father would kill you. I can help you, though. If you need anything, just let me know."

I gave a tired smile. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

She turned and began to leave, but I stopped her. "Wait. What's your name? I'm Angeline." I added.

The girl turned around and dropped her hood, revealing silvery eyes and white-blond hair. She gave me a little smile. "Rika."


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Welp, I'm back a week early. The reason? Well, when I started this little fanfic, I was basing it on a dream. Unfortunately, that dream ended in a god-Sue.**

**Mati: We really hate Sues, and it would just kill us if we wrote it that way.**

**Me: Yup. Anyways, now we actually have a better solution, but it involves changing some of the earlier chapters-**

**Mati: You should reread them, by the way.**

**Me: -so we figured, why not since we were already at it? So, here ya go!**

**Mati: By the way, the names? Just the names of my friends scrambled. Or at least most of them are.**

**Disclaimers: We'll tell you when we do own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

* * *

Over a while, I became good friends with Rika. All of my instincts were screaming out _Stranger Danger!_ but I ignored them. She was a lot different than the other Drachmians I met. Even though I was an Amestrian, she didn't treat me any differently. It made me wonder a bit about what it was like to live in a story that didn't care about you.

* * *

"Hey, what's your life like?" I asked Rika. We were sitting on top of a building, looking at the stars.

"Well, I have five siblings. There's Rachael, Ancilit, and the twins, Lussler and Hoan. Rachael is the oldest. She's 16 and loves to sing. Ancilit, the crafter of our family, is 11 and the twins are 9, though they sure don't act like it. Our mother died giving birth to the twins and Father remarried. I like Zöe, but I still miss Mama. We're pretty well off right now. Father works as a doctor, but he hates Amestrians with a passion."

"Do you have a boyfriend or something?"

She flushed. "Yeah, actually. He's my best friend's twin brother."

I smirked at her and she shoved me. "Oh, shut up." She stole a look at me. "Well, what about you? What's your life like?"

I sighed and leaned back. "Yes."

She blinked. "Oh, yeah. I mean, tell me about your life."

I looked at her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

I groaned. "Okay, but I'm going to sound like a lunatic."

She shrugged. "If it does, then oh, well."

"Well, I grew up in a different universe." At her odd look, I elaborated. "Not like that! I'm not an alien! No, what I mean to say is that I'm from a place that doesn't exist here. Not only that, but-" I swallowed. Choosing my next words carefully, I told her, "But in my world, this place doesn't exist. There is no Drachma or Amestris or Ishbal." _Not that there is really an Ishbal anymore,_ I mentally added.

Rika was white. "You're joking."

I shook my head. "I wish I was." I noticed her slightly shake and asked gently, "Do you want me to go on?"

"Give me a second." I waited as she took a few shaky breaths, then sighed. "Sorry. It's just-it's a little too much for me to take in. I don't exist?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Of course you exist! Why wouldn't you?"

"You just said-"

"I said that in my world, this place doesn't exist. Obviously here, this place exists. It's just like how my world doesn't exist here, but somewhere else it does."

She silently digested the new piece of information, then nodded. "I'll accept that. Continue."

I smirked. "Anyways, I was actually pretty spoiled as a kid. Anything I wanted, I got. But yet…" I didn't want to finish, but Rika nudged me. "But yet…?" She prompted.

"Yes." She scowled and pushed me as I laughed.

"What was I saying again? Oh, yeah...but yet, I didn't feel much love. It seemed that my parents' hugs and presents were...slightly forced." I sighed. "Then one night, I heard my parents arguing." I thought back to that horrible night.

* * *

'_I wasn't the one who wanted a child!' my mother screamed at my father._

'_Well, the only reason why we still have her is because __somebody's_ _father forced us to keep her!' my father yelled back._

'_At least __my_ _father is paying us to keep her!'_

'_And how much of that is spent on that brat?!'_

'_Well, we have to use at least __a bit_ _on her or else Dad wouldn't be paying us!'_

'_We don't have to use __that_ _much on her, though! She's a child!'_

* * *

I barked out a brittle laugh. "At that point, I turned and left."

Rika looked at me in horror. "Oh, Angie." She whispered.

I gave her a sad smile. "It's okay. It's not that bad." I took a deep breath. "Anyways, my parents never knew about what I had heard. I never looked at them the same way again, though. In school, I started to distance myself until I was the loner. I got less greedy, too. Instead of asking for toys all of the time, I began simply asking for money, so I could save up for when I turned 18 and left. Every now and then, though, I would ask for a thing that I really wanted. My parents looked disgruntled at my requests, but also seemed slightly relieved. After all, they didn't need to spend as much on me now."

"Then I found Fullmetal Alchemist."

"It was just something I found at the library. Just a small comic book-a book with pictures-that was written backwards. One day, I got bored, so I decided, why not?"

I laughed. "That small little book changed my life. It was a far cry from my life, full of adventure and humor and this wonderful magic the characters called alchemy." I noticed Rika start in surprise. "Yup. That book is this world."

"You mean that in your world, this place only exists in a picture book?"

"Manga," I corrected, "But yeah. Honestly, I prefer this world more than mine, though."

"So, how did you come here? I mean, tell me how you came here." She quickly said.

"No idea. One night I was reading, wished that I could come here, and blam! I land in Amestris."

She smiled at me suddenly. "I'm glad you did, though. It's hard to believe that you're from another world, but I'm happy that I met you and became your friend."

I felt myself tear up. "T-thanks. I've never-"

Then we ran into trouble.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello, guys! I'm baaackk! As promised, here's chapter twelve! **

**To anyone who has read My Immortal by Tara Gilesbie: I'm planning on doing a commentary fic as a side project. I've done a few chapters, so I'll probably post it soon, if anybody's interested in reading it.**

**Well...there's nothing left to say now, so...**

**Mati: *sings at top of voice* THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SAY NOW! THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SAYY NOW! GIVING UP, GIVING UP, HEY, HEY, GIVING UP NOW! GIVING UP, GIVING UP, HEY, HEY, GIVING UP NOW!**

**Me: We get it. Stop singing Nothing Left to Say from Imagine Dragons.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own ****_Hagane no Renkenjitsushi_****, also known as Fullmetal Alchemist. Thank Hiromi Arakawa for making it.**

* * *

We were interrupted by the clamor of men racing to the top of the building we were on. "I'm telling you, I heard someone up there!" a man's voice protested. "Just come and look!"

Rika and I looked at each other in alarm. We both sprang up just as five man appeared on the roof.

"There she is!" the man from before shouted. "The spy! Get her!"

_Uh, oh._

I thought furiously for a way out, then remembered Rika. "Sorry." I quickly muttered to Rika, then grabbed her and put my automail arm around her neck. "Stop, or the girl gets it!" I yelled to the men.

One of them spat on the ground. "Typical Amestrians, doing cowardly things like take a girl hostage just to save their skin!" he snarled.

He took a step forward, but I shook Rika. "Not one step closer." I cautioned.

He stopped. "The police are coming, you know." He said slowly. "They have guns. They'll mow you down."

I was appalled. "Wait, what about the girl?"

He waved my question off. "It's for the good of the country." He said breezily.

Wow. Talk about demented.

I'd had enough. With a breezy wave, I jumped off of the building, taking Rika with me.

* * *

Yeah, it was stupid, but there wasn't really a better thing to do. There were shouts as I leapt off-or tried to. As I had leapt off, my foot clipped the end of the building and I tripped off. Rika shrieked right in my ear with terror. Honestly, I was screaming, too.

As soon as I had fallen off, though, I reached for the ledge of a nearby balcony with my right arm. Luckily, I managed to grab it. With a jerk, our fall stopped abruptly.

I bit down a scream of pain as something popped. "Quick," I managed to spit out. "Pull yourself up. I can't keep both of us hanging for long."

She quickly scrambled out of my grasp and up onto the balcony, then gave me a hand up.

We sat on the floor, her panting from the adrenaline, me trying to not scream from the intense pain. "That won't hold them off for long." I whispered hoarsely. "Do you know a place where I can hide?"

She thought for a moment. "Nathan."

"Who?"

"My boyfriend. He can help you get food and find you a shelter." She stood up. "Come on. I'll take you to him."

"Okay." I nodded. "We'd better hurry. They won't be fazed by our stunt for long."

* * *

We quickly made our way through the dark streets. My heart was pounding hard. What if they caught us? They might find out that Rika was helping me. What would happen to her then? They could easily kill her and claim that she was a traitor or say that it was an accident…

My train of thought was interrupted as I crashed into Rika's back. I stumbled backward, caught off-guard. "What-" I started to say, but she cut me off. "Shh! We're here." She whispered.

I looked. In front of us was a small little light blue house with a balcony facing the front. The light to the balcony room was on.

Rika picked up a stone and threw it at the door. It clinked against the glass and fell to the ground.

The door opened and a boy around 13 poked his head through. His eyes widened as he spotted Rika.

"Rika? What're you doing here?"

"No time. Let us in, quick!" She called up to him.

He retreated back into the house. A few minutes later, a rope ladder fell down.

We climbed it quickly. I kept looking behind me, worried that the men would soon come and capture us.

Once inside, I collapsed in a heap, trembling with exhaustion and adrenaline. Rika kneeled next to me, shaking as well.

A girl ran into the room. "Ri?! What the hell happened to you?! People are on alert! And who the hell is this?"

"Hi, Ava." Rika groaned. "This is Angie. She's an Amestrian I decided to help."

Ava's eyes grew wide. "An Amestrian?! Ri, how do you know that she's not gonna kill you in your sleep? You're too trusting!"

"Gee, thanks. I feel so loved right now." I said sarcastically.

"I can't trust you, even if you're a little girl." She shot at me.

"Hey, technically, I'm older than you, missy. And that really hurts. Not all of us Amestrians are blood-sucking monsters."

Rika looked at me. "Huh? You're older than us?"

I rubbed my neck. "Yeah, actually. I got younger when I came here. I might be 12 now, but I should be 14."

"Uh, can you guys tell me what the hell you're talking about?" Ava asked.

"Long story." I shifted and winced as my shoulder throbbed with pain.

Nathan noticed. "Hey, what's wrong with your arm?"

"I think I dislocated it while trying to escape. Do you know someone who can reset it?"

"Well, Nathan's learning to be a doctor." Ava said hesitantly.

Nathan thought about it for a while, then nodded. "I'll try setting it. Ava, Ri, can you hold her still, please?"

As they took their places, I looked at Nathan nervously. "Uh, you have tried this before, right?"

"No."

"...Wait, what?!"

"Don't worry, it'll be alright." Ava smirked at me.

I didn't think I liked her that much.

Before I could scream, Nathan pushed my arm.

It went back into place with a small pop. Immediately, I was in immense pain. I screamed once in agony, then blacked out.


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: We lied about the 2 chapters. 

Mati: Yeah, we're still on hiatus...we just got off to post this for FMA day. 

Me: By the way, HAPPY FMA DAY, GUYS! 

Mati: How about this? We'll give you an omake. This chapter's pretty boring, anyways. And yes. Our language is getting more crass. 

Me: This is rated T. Deal with it. 

Mati: We wanna give a hand to our friend, Tippiting Icebergs(she's on Fictionpress) For helping us write this! Seriously. We had(and have) really bad writer's block. 

Me: Oh, yeah. Nearly forgot. Yes, we changed both our profile pic and our story cover. We don't own the profile pic-pulled it off the internet-but we did make the cover. Yeah, it's pretty lame, but since we can't draw worth crap, we were forced to use a anime creator. 

Mati: We'll dedicate the next chapter-which is more exciting- to anyone who could make a better cover for us. Or can come up with a title. 

Me: Well, gotta go. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. We'll tell you when we do.

* * *

I groaned as I woke up. My arm was still throbbing, but was a lot better.

I opened my eyes and looked around. Rika and Ava were gone; Nathan was sitting down, looking at me.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"A few hours. Ava took Ri back home."

"So I'm staying here, or what?"

He looked at me warily. "I don't really trust you, but if Ri says you're okay, then I guess that I can let you stay."

"Hey, it'll only be for two weeks or so, then I'll be out of your hair."

He slowly nodded, "All right."

* * *

Ava came back a while later. "I got Ri back home safely. Now, let's get down to business, shall we? Tell me who you are and where you're from and what the hell you've pulled Ri into."

I groaned, "What do you want me to tell you? That I'm a girl from another dimension where none of this exists and I have to save some guy or else the world ends?"

She gaped at me, "Uh?"

"Heh," I smirked at her expression, then sighed, "It might sound like an over the top 'throw her in the looney bin' child's tale-"

"Which it is."

I glared at her but continued. "But...It's the truth."

"Explain."

"Um, it's a bit of long story…"

She sat down on the beige floor and rested her chin on her hand. "Okay."

"Uh, okay?"

"Okay, tell me the story."

* * *

I sat back when I had finally finished telling my story; it took longer than I had hoped. Ava and Nathan looked at me with astonishment.

"So...let me get this straight. You're from the future and you know what's going to happen because you read it in a book?" Ava asked.

"Uh huh."

She stared for a second, then shook her head. "That is the stupidest excuse I have ever heard."

I scowled. "Fine, don't believe me! What do you want me to tell you, then?"

"Uh, that you're a psycho? That you're just using Ri? That you're a damn spy?"

"Fine then, Ms. Bitchy." I finally snapped. "I'm a psycho. I'm taking advantage of Ri. I'm a damn spy. Happy now?"

I walked away angrily and avoided her for the rest of the day.

* * *

From there, well...Things got worse.

Tension builded between me and Ava until you could cut it with a butter knife. I tried my best to ignore Ava, but she just rubbed me the wrong way. Every time that I passed her, she kept whispering to me that I was evil and was endangering everyone's life. Eventually, I got her back by sticking out my foot and tripping her. She returned the favor by pouring ice cold water on me in the morning The cycle of funless pranks lasted for a week. Finally, Nathan got tired of our antics and called Rika for an 'intervention'.

"Look, you two need to stop. We're in danger here! Angeline is already here. It's far too late to turn back, Ava. And even if she goes away, you think the authorities will let our treason slide if they find out?" Rika said sternly, as if she was scolding little children instead of teens her own age. "I'm sorry I got you and Nathan in on this, Ava, I truly am. When I brought her here, I hadn't thought of the consequences. I hadn't thought ahead, only of helping out someone and it was stupid of me, I understand, but we're here now, together, harboring a fugitive and yes, it's dangerous but they haven't seen you all together. They don't know where Angeline could be," she reasoned.

"I get it. How long do you think they'll keep looking for her?" Ava finally asked.

"I don't know. The patrolling authorities have lessened in the market, though, so hopefully soon," said Rika. They all looked so worried and only then did I truly realize how my presence was affecting them, how dire the circumstances had become. Ava had every right to be on guard, to be angry at me; I was an intruder, living with them and in return giving them nothing but an assurance of possible death.

How could I do this to them?

Another week passed and I was getting antsy. I needed to leave, so they wouldn't be in trouble anymore. But I couldn't leave unless I wanted to kill my rescuers. Ava and Nathan's parents left four days ago-something to do with their business- and weren't returning for another week. They'd left Ava in charge, but Nathan took over-Ava kept pulling pranks on me. I didn't return them, though. She deserved them. Although the custard was a bit much…

Our food, or should I say their food, sources soon ran low.

"We don't have much food left." I finally remarked, which was pretty obvious. We were down to a few cans of soup.

"I know. I've been meaning to go to the market, but Ava...she doesn't have one ounce of responsibility in her bones so I can't leave her here with you. She'll burn down the house, and she doesn't like going to the market alone, and we can't leave you here alone either, so I'll have to go at night when you're both sleeping," Nathan said.

"Don't." I said quickly. "Going around town at night is dangerous." Though to be honest I didn't know if it would be as dangerous here as it was in my world. "How about I go with Ava?" I offered.

He shook his head. "You can't. You're a fugitive, they'll recognize you in broad daylight, and if they see Ava with you... I don't want to even think about that."

"You think they're still looking for me?"

"I don't know, but it's better to be safe than sorry." He had a point, but I couldn't let him go out at night to go grocery shopping, no matter how much we needed it. I'd already put their lives in enough danger.

"What if I put on a disguise?" I asked.

"You don't-we don't-have disguises," he said.

"No, but you've got boy clothes."

* * *

It's so hot. Nathan had forced Ava to allow me to accompany her on our quest for food supplies. Ava was against it for the same reasons that Nathan had: I would be caught. But Nathan lent me black trousers, a white shirt, and this sort of brown hoodie. My hair was slicked back into a ponytail I could conceal inside the hood, while my bangs stayed out and made the hair look like a real male haircut. Good thing I looked like a twelve year old or I doubt I'd pass as a convincing boy.

The Market looked like a swap meet. There were so many different stands and so many people. I walked behind Ava, holding onto the hem of her shirt tightly so I wouldn't be bumped off track and lose her. Every now and then, she'd ask for my help in looking for the supplies we needed, though I didn't prove to be much help since I didn't know much about merchandise. I hadn't seen anyone who looked like an officer since we got there; however, that didn't mean that I was safe. I discreetly kept looking around myself at all times, making sure I wasn't receiving suspicious stares.

"Will you stop looking around? You look like you've just stolen something," Ava snapped quietly. Guess I wasn't that subtle.

"Oops. I thought I was doing a better job...sorry," I whispered back. I guess I was trouble wherever I went.

"...Uh, Ava?" I asked quietly.

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "You already said that. Besides, it's alright. I forgot we had to keep a look out."

I gave a small laugh. "I didn't mean about that. I meant about everything else. I hadn't realized how much trouble I've been to you guys...I haven't even said thanks."

"Oh. Well, alright," she said, her voice small and contemplative. It didn't matter if she didn't believe me, as long as she knew how grateful I was for their sacrifice.  
**  
We walked in silence, a small truce hanging between us.**

* * *

**A/N 2: Well, there you go.**

**Mati: Told ya it was boring.**

Me: Well, here's your omake! I wanted to make it kinda fluffy and make our dear Angie develop a bigger crush for Ed...

Mati: But she was too lazy.

**Me: Maybe next time...**

* * *

OMAKE

It started off as a regular day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing merrily.

Edward sat under a large oak tree, reading a complex alchemy book. His automail arm creaked as he turned the page.

Next to him was Angeline. She had her arms nestled behind her head and was staring at the clouds, daydreaming.

Everything was calm.

Then Angeline let out a piercing shriek. She jumped up, still screaming, and leapt behind Ed.

Ed looked at her, alarmed. "What's wrong?" All Angeline could do was let out small ahs and point a trembling finger behind him.

Slowly, Ed turned around, dreading to know what had freaked Angeline out.

It was a small green garden snake.

If Ed was in an anime, he would have sweatdropped. As it was, he was in a fanfiction, so all he could do was stare.(Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a fourth wall in this fanfiction, please? Yes, a real one. Thanks)

"...It's a snake."

"Yes, I know! Kill it, kill it!" Angeline squeaked.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "It's a harmless little snake. I don't need to kill it. Why are you acting oddly anyways?"

Angeline flushed. "I-I'm afraid of snakes." She whispered.

Angeline.

The mighty Angeline, the mysterious stranger, the girl who had jumped into his life, was afraid of snakes?

It was too much for Ed. He burst into laughter. The snake slithered away.

"You're afraid of snakes? Really?"

"Shut up!" Angeline whacked him with her automail arm. "It isn't funny!"

He struggled to contain his laughter. "Sorry. Out of curiosity, what else are you afraid of?"

She blushed even more and looked down. "Uh...Heights...and maybe big dogs…" She mumbled. It caused him to burst into more laughter.

"Can it, pipsqueak!" Under her breath, she muttered, "How'd I ever have a crush on him?" Luckily, Ed didn't hear her, since he was already going off on a rant.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD RIDE A FLEA?!"

"You."

"AARGH! I'LL RIP OFF YOUR LEGS AND STICK THEM ON YOUR HEAD!"

"What's the bother? I'm still shorter than you. Which is amazing…"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT PEOPLE MISTAKE HIM FOR A PLUSHIE?!"

* * *

**A/N 3: And we are done.  
**

**Mati: *sighs* Man, I'm tired. I need to sleep.**

**Me: A virtual cookie to the person who knows where the Nuggets reference comes from. Hint: It's not FMA or a manga. The last book in the series is coming out in 4 days. We're so excited!  
**

**Mati: Well, that's all. Tell us what you think in a review, please! Also, if you want, we'll make a fic just for chapters/one-shots/drabbles in between this story! Until next time!**

**Ciao, bella!**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: You know what, to hell with this.**

**WE'RE GOING OFF HIATUS!**

**Mati: Sorry, that hiatus sign just really bothers us.**

**Me: This doesn't mean that we'll be updating regularly, though. Due to school and writer's block and all that fun stuff, our updating is gonna be sporadic. Hope you don't the way, I think that because I reposted the Hiatus chapter at the same time as the last one, many of you guys missed it. Better look at it.  
**

**Mati: Wow. In just 7 days, we've posted 3 times. That's a lot.**

**Me: By the way, we've decided not to post two chapters, because a: We haven't written the next chapter yet, and b: ...Well, you'll see. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Not yet…*evil laugh***

* * *

It was late into the afternoon when we finally got to the end of the shopping list. The last stands supplied a variety of food as well as jewelry.

One necklace in particular caught my eye. It was a delicate silver necklace with two heart-shaped charms, one gold, one steel. It looked perfect for Rika, but I didn't have any Drachmian money. Heck, I didn't have any money. I sighed in irritation and turned to leave.

"Oy." Ava called to me from a nearby stand. I turned to look at her and she tossed me a coin. Her expression was unreadable. I looked at her in confusion but she simply went back to gathering the last of the list. I studied the coin in my hand; it was bronze, a little larger than a nickel, with a small silver square in the middle. Intricate designs were carved onto it, a language I didn't understand. I looked back up to Ava; she was on the other end of the stand. When she glanced at me, her eyes moved down below then back up. Her eyebrow twitched minutely and she gave me a small curt nod before turning away again. I looked downward and caught a glimpse of the necklace.

Oh. The coin was to purchase the necklace.

I mouthed a thanks to her when she glanced my way again, and bought the gift.

After making and eating dinner(Ava had grudgingly given me cooking lessons), I decided to tell Rita and the others about something I had been thinking of for a while.

"Hey, can you call Rika over? I don't know how to..." I called out.

"I don't think she'll be home right now, but her mom will probably give her a message. Hold on," said Nathan. He picked up a phone and dialled. Seconds ticked by and no one answered. He re-dialled and again no answer. Four tries later and nothing.

"Why aren't they picking up?" I asked lightly.

"I don't know," Nathan replied, his face grim. "They always pick up."

Ava appeared next to us, her face pale. "D-Do you think..?" She whispered urgently.

"What do you mean do I think?" I said, still not understanding the ominous tone in which they spoke with or the cut off sentence she left hanging.

"We have to go check on them, Nathan," Ava said desperately, dismissing my question completely.

"We can't."

"But-"

"Damn it, Ava! You know I want to, too, but isn't safe!"

Something was wrong. Everything seemed off now. The once light and happy mood was gone, replaced by a kind of urgency that I didn't understand.

"What are you guys talking about? What's wrong?" I asked, my feeling of dread increasing.

"Please, Nathan," Ava pleaded, still ignoring my inquiries. "We have to go. We have to go!" I didn't ask about her sudden outburst, instead looked at Nathan for some type of explanation, one which he did not give me.

"Okay... Okay we'll go. Go get your overcoat, the one that looks like a cape. Angeline, go dress up with my clothes again, you're coming with us. Five minutes, go!" Nathan ordered. We did as we were told and met at the door. He handed me a dark overcoat with a hood and some workman's boots. I exchanged my own shoes for those, slid into the coat, and draped the hood to conceal my head, and we were off in a hurry. I didn't have time to assess the situation. I could only follow them to Rika's home.

The house was unlit when we got there, but something felt wrong. It felt dark and forbidding. "Hello?" Nathan called out."Ri?" As we got closer, we could see a piece of paper taped to the door.

Ava's eyes widened and she began running. By the time Nathan and I had caught up, she was staring at the page with horror.

Nathan gently pushed her aside and began reading while I looked for a way in.

"By order of His Excellency, Vokanir Imperialium,

On September 23, 1911, an Amestrian spy was discovered in the Kato region. She disappeared, only to be discovered five days later with Rika Antilima of Tilet."

"Aha!" I found a key under the doormat. Typical. I tried it on the front door and it opened silently.

The smell hit me immediately. I gagged and leaned against the wall. Everything smelled metallic and cold.

I knew that smell. After more than 2 years, that smell still haunted me.

My shoulder hit a switch and the light turned on, revealing the horror in front of me.

"The Antilima family has been eliminated for enemy association."

They were having or going to have dinner. That much was evident. A man-I assumed that it was Rika's father-was still in his chair, his head lying on the table. His glassy eyes were wide with horror. There was a dark stain on the back of his shirt.

"Rika Antilima has been put in custody for interrogation."

A woman with short spiky hair was on the floor. A broken dish was next to her, along with spilled food. Zöe. She had been taking food to the table. Next to her was a young woman with longer curls, probably Rachael. Both had been shot multiple times.

"To the Amestrian spy: If you wish to rescue your partner, we will have a hostage exchange at 2:30 on October 16, 1911."

Leaning against the wall, attempting to shield the corpses of two twin boys, was a younger girl. Her eyes were still widened in terror. The boys were holding each other, eyes shut. All three had a bullet in their head.

"We will let Ms. Antilima go if you offer yourself. If you do not arrive, we will be forced to eliminate her for the good of the country."

Rika's father. Zöe. Rachael and Ancilit. The twins Hoan and Lussler. They were all there.

"Honor. Loyalty. Courage."

"Oh, God." Was all I could manage before I ran outside and threw up in the street.

* * *

A/N: We're so evil.

Me: Sorry for the cliffie. It just seemed right to end it this way.

Mati: What happens next? Well, you'll just have to wait until next time, won't you? *evil smile*

Me: Please review! It makes us work faster!

Ciao, bella!


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm back with the next chapter! Not sure if you guys'll like it, though...**

**Mati: This is it, guys. Let's do this.**

**Me: There's some good news, though! THIS STORY FINALLY HAS A TITLE! A HUGE THANK-YOU TO THOROUGHLY MISGUIDED, WHO SUGGESTED THIS! THIS CHAPTER IS FOR YOU!**

**Disclaimer: No. Why would you think that I owned Fullmetal Alchemist?**

* * *

"Turn her in."

Ava's face was dark and savage. "This is her fault. She has to fix it."

After seeing the horror inside Rika's house, we had gone back to their house and gone into Ava's room. Ava was standing in the middle of the room and glaring at her pacing brother. I was sitting at the foot of the bed, still trying to process the images I had seen of Rika's family.

Nathan's face was dark as well. "We can't. From what Angeline has told us-"

"Yes, what Angeline has told us!" Ava growled. "How do we know that she's not lying? She's just trying to save her own skin. She's a coward! A liar! A goddamn Amestrian!"

"Enough!" Nathan yelled, making me jump. "Don't you think I think of those, too?!" His eyes glistened, and I realized that he was trying to keep back tears. "Don't you think I want to get her back, too?! The fact is, though, if she-" he pointed at me, "-isn't lying, the world might end if we make her go!"

He suddenly stopped pacing and slumped against the wall. A few stray tears made their way down his face.

"I-I love her," he whispered hoarsely, "But...if it's her or the world…" He choked out a bitter laugh and rubbed his face. "What kind of boyfriend am I?"

After what seemed like an eternity, he righted himself and looked at me. "Angeline."

I hesitantly nodded.

"I'm trusting that you're telling the truth. We'll continue to shelter you, but you'll have to leave soon. As soon as they find out that you won't go to the bridge, they'll probably target us."

"What?!" Ava screamed. "No! You can't-"

He stopped her with a glare. "I can, and I will." He rubbed his face again wearily. "Come on. We have to get some sleep."

* * *

I couldn't sleep. How could I? I was going to leave in four days-no, scratch that, three days-and leave a girl-no, a friend-to die.

How could I? I was a monster…

I silently got up and tiptoed out of the room.

* * *

"Excuse me, Ma'am? Do you know where the hostage exchange is going to be?"

The old woman with a kindly face turned to look at me, seeing, no doubt, a small boy with bags underneath his eyes. I had stolen Nathan's clothes again. I hoped he wouldn't mind.

"Oh, are you talking about the girl? They announced it on the radio this morning. It's going to be at Hangien Bridge. The spy is to stand on the civilian side of the bridge."

"What do you mean?"

She laughed. "I see they haven't taught this to you in school yet. Hangian Bridge connects Tilet to Shkinza Island, the military base. It's the only way there besides by boat. For the hostage exchange, they will stand on the military side. The spy will approach from the civilian side, which is dangerous, if you ask me." She clucked her tongue. "That poor girl. It seems like the government has gone too far this time. First her family, now her?"

I swallowed hard. All my fault. "Thanks."

I turned to go, but she called out to me. "Boy!"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know her?"

I shook my head. "No. I want to see if she's going to live."

She gave a slow nod. "I may go as well, if not to take the body to bury. The poor girl…" Her voice trailed off.

I gave her one last nod and hurried off, trying to keep back tears of guilt.

* * *

October 16. It was time. I stood in the crowd of civilians, dreading to see the state Rika was in.

As 2:30 came, a small car pulled up. Four men in uniform with guns strapped on their back got out of the car. They turned back to the open door and roughly dragged a bound girl out.

I nearly cried with relief. It was Rika. She looked unhurt.

One of the men tossed her on the ground, then spat on her. "It is the time. Where is the spy scum?" He yelled out.

For a while, I just stood there, rooted to the ground by fear. Now that it was time, I was scared. Did I really want to do this?

After a few minutes of silence, the crowd started to stir with a nervous energy. _Where is the spy? Has she left the girl? See, told you. Amestrian scum._

The man who had yelled out snorted with derision. "Typical." He raised his hand, and one of the soldiers stepped forward and pointed his gun at Rika's head.

My heart pounded. They were going to kill her if I didn't do something.

Without hesitation, I stepped out of the crowd. "Wait!"

The soldiers stopped. The man-I guessed that he was the head of this-lowered his hand and looked at me with surprise. Another whisper rippled through the crowd.

I took another step forward and took off the hood of my jacket. "I'm here."

After a bit of silence, the man started to laugh. "So, you came after all." He waved a hand at me. "Let's get started, then. Start walking. We'll send the girl to you."

I took a deep breath and started walking.

The crowd stared at me. _She's actually doing it. I can't believe it. An Amestrian. She's so young._

After about fifty paces, the man stopped down to Rika and pulled out a knife. I stopped, worried that he was going to kill her, but he simply cut her bonds and stood her up. As she stumbled to her feet, he shoved her forward, growling, "Move, girl."

It seemed like an eternity before we finally got face to face. I braced myself for harsh words, but none came. Instead, Rika's voice was quiet and urgent.

"They're planning to kill me."

"What?!"

"As soon as you get close enough, one of them is going to shoot me."

I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. After all that had happened, after my consent to be captured, they were going to kill her?

"It's not fair," I whispered, tears beginning to blur my vision.

"That's just how it goes." Rika gave me a small, sad smile. "I can't be saved, but you can. Listen. As soon as they shoot me, take the advantage and jump into the river. You're leaving soon, right? Just stay low."

"I-I can't-"

"You have to! If you don't, my death's gonna be meaningless! At least I can die knowing that I helped save the world in a way."

I started crying. "I-I-"

She took my shaking hands. "Please."

"O-Okay." With trembling hands, I took out the box I had kept on me since the night we had found Rika's family dead. In it was the heart necklace. "H-here. I was planning on giving this to you…"

She looked at it and gave a small smile. "It's beautiful. But-" She gently pushed the box into my hands again. "You should keep it. It'll help you remember me."

I quietly put the box back into my pocket. After a few minutes, she sighed and hugged me. "We have to keep moving. But...if you ever see Ava and Nathan again...tell them that I'm sorry and that I love them a lot."

I gave a shaky nod and began walking again. Rika mirrored my movements.

As we walked, a thought hit me. "Rika!" I suddenly called out, stopping and turning.

"Yes?" She asked, doing the same.

"Why-why don't you hate me for the death of your family? Hell, why don't you hate for being the cause of your death?"

She let out a shaky breath, and I knew that she was struggling to hold back tears. "I wanted to, I really did." She gave me a small smile. "But at the end of the day, you're just a girl who's struggling to survive in a new world while at the same time trying to save the world. You have to keep the main character safe, don't you? Besides, you didn't pull the trigger or tell someone else to."

She turned to leave, but I ran back to her and hugged her, sobbing "I'm sorry" over and over again. She eventually hugged me back and started crying as well, and we stayed like that until the soldiers yelled at us to keep moving.

That was the last time I saw her alive.

About fifty feet away from the soldiers, I heard a deafening bang. I turned around in time to see Rika crumple like a rag doll.

My heart broke. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Rika…

As the crowd screamed in horror, I leapt off the bridge, still thinking of Rika. Rika's smile. Rika's laugh. Rika as she scolded me and Ava. Oh, Rika, Rika, Rika…

My last thought as the current swept me away was, _I'm sorry. I did as you told me to. I'm sorry..._

* * *

**A/N: I-I'm so sorry. I had to do it.**

**Mati: We'd end with Ciao, bella! but...that doesn't feel genuine right now.**

**Me: Let's hold a silent vigil for Rika Antilima, the loving girlfriend, devoted best friend, and caring girl...**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm back, guys! Sorry, this chapter is a lot less exciting. It's kinda a filler. The next chapter is better. Also, I have decided to put all of the omakes for this story on a new story(yes, there are more, but they're supposed to be with the next chapter) called Behind the Scenes. Go check it out! **

**BTW, I've already finished Chapter Seventeen, so I'll be posting that soon. Until then, enjoy the chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish and wish and wish,**

**Hiromu Arakawa owns FMA...uh...fish.**

**Mati: Huh?**

**Me: I ran out of ideas. So sue me.**

* * *

The rest is a huge blur.

They had a public funeral for Rika. From what I heard, many people went because they believed that Rika didn't deserve to die. Some people loyal to the government went simply to spit on her grave.

I didn't go. I didn't deserve to. I caused her death.

After struggling out of the river, I had tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible. I stayed in the alleys, making my way to the border where Izumi would pick me up. My clothes were soaked and I was forced to steal some. When the clothes' owner had chased after me with a shotgun, I really started regretting leaving all of my belongings with Izumi.

I tried sleeping a few times, but whenever I closed my eyes, all I could see was Rika falling, a ribbon of blood streaming from her head…

I skipped sleeping.

A few times, I saw Ava stumbling down the road, heading somewhere. I wanted to go to her and tell her about Rika's last words, but I found that I couldn't. It was just too hard.

Finally, it was October 18. I had passed my thirty day trial.

I stood in front of Izumi, waiting for her verdict. She studied me and the bags under my eyes, my stolen and dirty clothes, the silver necklace with steel and gold heart charms around my neck.

Finally, she turned around and started walking. "You pass. Come on. Your real training starts as soon as we get home."

"Thank you."

* * *

Well, I'm not gonna bore you with the details of what happened , and the experience is too traumatizing to talk about. I still shudder to think about the Kitten Incident.

Anyways, long story short, I started my vigourous training quickly. Even though she wanted to know my background at first, I promised her that I would tell her the next time I visited with her other pupils. I began my training, and after nine months under Izumi Curtis, I was as skilled as Ed and Al in hand-to-hand combat. I was a lot stronger than before and could run five miles without stopping, only a bit out-of-breath when I finished.

Besides the obvious physical training, I learned alchemy. I knew that I could use alchemy(unless my stunt with Ed's Portal was a fluke, which I doubted) but I needed help with creating the arrays. This part of my training took a long time, considering that I couldn't draw worth crap.

Through the painstakingly slow process of mastering regular alchemy, I discovered a new skill. I could manipulate the elements. I could manipulate sound and light, too, but I didn't dare to do it as much at Teacher's house.

I figured this out when I got bored. Teacher was out, so I had nothing to do.

To entertain myself, I decided to test out a theory I had thought of back at home, before I got pulled into the Portal. I concentrated and imagined the air molecules moving as a string that I could manipulate and imagined it cutting through a dirt mound I had just made.

An invisible force cleaved through the mound neatly, as if a sword had cut through it.

For a while, I stared at my hands, eyes wide. I did it. Like, really did it! I had no idea that it actually worked!

But...why didn't other people use it? Sure, it took a lot of concentration, but it was fairly easy.

I decided to ask Teacher during dinner. She had looked at me oddly and explained that while it was possible, nobody had thought of it(which was kinda sad) or couldn't do it. She had never heard of anyone who used the elements like that.

Our conversation left me even more confused. Was it because I wasn't from the world? I didn't know, and I sure as hell wasn't asking Teacher. She didn't even know that I was from somewhere else!

Ah, the woes of a pre-teen girl. Some worried about puberty and boys. Me? I worried about whether my demon teacher would find out that I was from another world.

The nightmares didn't stop after I started training, though. Most nights I would wake up screaming in terror. Rika was always in my dreams, sometimes asking for help that I couldn't give. In the day, I managed to cover up my night problems so that Teacher wouldn't worry so much. I had to be strong. How else would I accomplish my goal?

* * *

...Ok, so maybe that wasn't really a 'long story short'. So sue me.

As soon as my training was finished, I went back to Resembool. The Elric house was already burned down, a mound of ashes.

Ed and Al were sitting in front of the Rockbell house, relaxing. I waved to them when they saw me and they stood up and went to greet me. I noticed that Ed was wearing his trademark coat with the Flamel mark on the back and slightly fangirled.

"Welcome back, Angie!" Al said. Ed stood next to him, scowling a little.

"Thanks, Al!" I said in return, instinctively hugging him. He was slightly warm from the sun. I turned away from him and looked at Ed. "Well?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He scowled even more, but mumbled, "Welcome back."

As awkward as ever. I laughed and slapped his back. "Still as short as ever, I see." I teased.

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!"

I dodged around his flailing arms and ran to the Rockbell's house. "I'm back!" I yelled as I reached the door.

Winry came out and smiled, hugging me. "Welcome back!" she said, beaming.

For the first time in a while, I felt welcomed.

* * *

**A/N: Maybe the 'ribbon of blood' thing was a bit much...**

**Mati: Yeah...Sorry, guys. The next chapter is better. Promise.**

**Ciao, bella!**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: We got bored and decided to post this.**

**Mati: *shrugs* At least now we have a bit more pressure to write the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I have a friend named Edward Elric on Google Plus, but I don't own even him.**

* * *

"So, what are you planning on doing now?" Pinako asked Ed and Al during dinner.

"We're going to Central soon, to find something. Since Angie was coming back, we decided to stay for a while." Al told her.

Pinako turned to me. "And you, Angie?"

I swallowed the food I had been chewing and answered. "I want to travel with you guys, if it's not too much of a bother." I had been considering becoming a State Alchemist, but decided against it when I thought of how dangerous that would be. I would be alerting the Homunculi of another sacrifice.

Ed stopped eating and looked at me. "Why?" He asked through a mouthful of food.

I shrugged. "Why not? I want to help you with whatever you're doing. Not only that, but I'll be able to learn something."

The brothers looked at each other. Some kind of exchange that I couldn't read passed between them.

Suddenly, I felt sick. Those looks-they didn't trust me. I could tell.

But...I'd known them for more than a year.

But they know nothing about you, A voice whispered in my head. You haven't shown that you can be trusted.

It was right.

"Hey, Ed? Can I talk to you outside?" I asked, getting up. "Alone?"

A distrustful look passed across his face. Why hadn't I seen it before? Nonetheless, he went outside with me.

I turned to him. "Do you really trust me?" I asked in a soft voice.

I could tell he was torn over telling me the truth and lying. Finally, he answered, "No."

I looked at him for a while, then gave a resigned smile. Well, I should have expected it.

"I understand. Please give me a chance, though. I want to prove myself. How about I travel with you for a month? If I don't kill you in your sleep or steal your belongings or sell you out within that time, then you have to trust me and let me stay with you guys. If not-" I shrugged. "Then you can ditch me somewhere. Deal?" I held out a hand.

He looked at it then slowly took it. "Deal."

* * *

_Three years later_

I sighed and leaned back listening to Mustang and Ed bicker. It had been four years since I had arrived in this world. Most of that time had been us going from town to town, looking for the Philosopher's Stone. After successfully(kinda) passing the month's trial, Ed and Al opened up a bit more and 'told' me(although I already knew) about the Philosopher's Stone. I continued to tease Ed about his height, which resulted in a lot of fights. After one such fight, we were forced to pay for the demolished hotel and repair it with alchemy.

"Lina?" Ed's voice cut into my thoughts. I shook my head and looked at him. "Yes, Chibi?"

"DON'T CALL ME-"

"We're leaving." Al said hurriedly, cutting Ed off. "We're going to talk to a State Alchemist for information about the Stone."

Oh, yes. Tucker. The Sewing-Life Alchemist. Was it really that time already?

I searched through my mental list of events. Yup, Ed had just beaten up Cornello and we had subdued the problem on the train. Next was Tucker.

Damn. I hated that bastard. After what he did to Nina-

Oh, god. Nina.

Would I have to see her die again? Would she become another face in my nightmares?

I had to try to save her. I couldn't let it happen like it should.

* * *

"So, who are we meeting?" I asked on the way to Tucker's house, feigning ignorance. Mustang gave me a look but didn't say anything about it.

"We're going to the house of Shou Tucker, the 'Sewing-Life Alchemist.' He got his State Alchemist certification two years ago when he created a chimera that could speak."

Ed sat forward in his seat. "It could speak? You mean it talked like a human? A chimera?"

Yeah, because it was a human, I thought bitterly. Tucker was possibly the most hated character in FMA. Many people wished to kill him-I could tell that much from a fanfiction I had read.

"That would appear to be the case. I wasn't in charge at the time, so I never saw it. It could understand human speech and it spoke...But all it said was 'I want to die.' After that, it refused to eat and died not long after."

There was a silence before Mustang spoke again.

"Well, anyway, let's go meet him and see what kind of person he is."

This...would not end well.  
**  
**I just hoped that I didn't kill him on sight. That would be hard to explain.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you go.**

**Mati: We made four new omakes for this chapter. They're posted on my new story, ****Behind the Scenes****, a companion to A Brighter Flame, Another Hope****. Go check it out!  
**

**Until next time!**

**Ciao, bella!**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: Holy crap. I haven't posted in a long time. I'm so sorry! My life has been so chaotic! Grades, tests...**

**Mati: And her.**

**Piper: *lazy wave* Yo.**

**Angie: Yyyeah. Somehow, my consciousness spit up ****again****. So now, there's me, the public face, the writer, the daydreamer; Mati, the fangirl-**

**Mati: *disgruntled* I'm not even that crazy anymore.**

**Angie: -And Piper. the new psychotic killer side. Great.**

**Mati: We are now officially the craziest people we know.**

**Piper: Hey, at least I hide myself in public. Mostly. Except for yesterday, when we were talking to Amy about killing with metal pipes vs. a battle axe...**

**Angie: ...**

**Mati: Anyways. We got addicted to FNAF, we begged the people we knew for FMA merch...the usual crazy things.**

**Angie: The good news is, we're on winter break, and we're finishing up Chapter 20, so we should be posting a bit more.**

**Piper: Thanks to all you peeps who followed us during our unintentional hiatus(and the ****one**** person who reviewed), by the way.**

**Mati: That all? Well, then. Here you go! Chapter Eighteen! We hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I'll own FMA when I can go to Amestris.**

**Mati: Don't say that! It might happen! You never know!**

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

A few minutes later, we were standing in front of Tucker's home, ogling at it. The manga wasn't exaggerating about its size. The house was seriously huge. I doubted that it would take much to get lost in there.

Ed's eyes were bulging out of his head. "What a huge place…"

Something rustled from behind the nearby bushes. I grinned, knowing what it was, and stepped away from Ed just as a dark figure hurtled out of the shrubbery and pounced on Ed. Ed let out a very manly scream as I laughed, holding my sides.

Then Alexander decided to jump on me.

Well.

I kinda freaked out.

And maybe screamed a lot.

Maybe kinda cried.

Anyways.

As I was panicking, the door opened. "Hey, Alexander! You stop that!" A girl's voice called. A little girl with her hair in pigtails looked out. Her eyes brightened. "Wow, Daddy! Lots of guests!:

Nina…

My chest ached to even see her. She looked so innocent...she didn't deserve her fate…

Then I remembered Alexander.

"GET OFF ME, YOU DAMN DOG!"

Ed was the one laughing at me now.

* * *

"I apologize for the mess. It's been like this since my wife left me..."

_Left. Sure._

We were sitting at the table in Tucker's dining room. After a few more minutes of my flailing, Tucker had arrived. Alexander finally got off me and with to play with Nina, leaving me to attempt to restore my dignity. It didn't work. Now, we were talking with the Devil himself.

Tucker smiled, and I resisted the urge to whack his face in with my automail arm. "It's nice to meet you, Edward. I'm Shou Tucker, the one they call the 'Sewing-Life Alchemist.'"

Mustang gestured to Ed. "Edward's interested in biological alchemy. I told him that you might be able to show him your research."

Tucker smiled again(_Must..resist..urge..)_ "Oh, I don't mind...But if you want to see what's up my sleeve, first you have to show me what's up yours. Alchemy is all about 'Equivalent Exchange.' So, why are you interested in biological transmutation?"

Mustang fidgeted, trying to come up with an excuse. "Um...well, he's-"

Ed raised his hand and cut him off. "Colonel." He started to take off his jacket.

"Edward…" I started. I didn't really think that showing Tucker was a good idea.

"It's all right, Lina. Mr. Tucker has the right to an answer." He took off his jacket, revealing his automail arm.

Tucker stared in fascination. "I see...that's why you're called the 'Fullmetal Alchemist'." He sat back. "So...mind telling me how this happened?"

* * *

"So you lost your mother...that must have been hard."

Ed and Al had told him their life story. The room was silent, broken only by Nina's laughs coming from outside.

Tucker turned to me. "And you? You must have some troubles as well, seeing as you're traveling with the Elric boys."

I snapped a bit. "Like hell I'm telling you anything, bastard." I snarled.

Tucker drew back in surprise. Ed and Al turned to me, startled as well. They'd never seen me act like this. Sure, they'd seen Ed act like this, but me?

Ed started to speak, but Mustang cut him off. "I've told my superiors that he lost his limbs in the civil war in the east. I must ask you to keep quiet about his attempts at human transmutation."

I shot him a grateful look for changing the conversation. He raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet. I assumed that it meant that he wanted answers later. I was fine with that. That way, I could tell him about Nina.

"Sure, no problem. I'm sure the military couldn't afford to lose such a brilliant individual." Tucker stood up. "Well then...Let me show you my laboratory, although I'm not sure if it'll be much help to you."

As we walked to his lab, Ed came up to me. "What was that all about?" He whispered.

"Sorry you had to see that. He...just rubs me the wrong way."

"Why? He seems nice enough."

_Yeah, and Mario seems nice, but he turned out to be a psycho animal abuser._ "Some people are deceiving in their looks."

He saw the dark look in my eyes and dropped the subject.

* * *

If his house was a mess, then his lab was a pigsty. Each of the walls were stuffed with his failed experiments. It was both horrifying and intriguing. Horrifying, because it was a cruel way of destroying those animal's lives, and intriguing because of my alchemist's instincts.

"Ahh...You've got to excuse me...I'm supposed to be the authority on chimeras, but in reality, it's never easy. Lots of failures...lots of false starts…" He opened a door. It was an enormous room filled with books. "This is my file room."

I may have hated Tucker, but I couldn't deny it; his file room was amazing.

Ed was in awe, too. "Ooh! This is incredible!"

Tucker chuckled. "Feel free to look around. I'll be in the lab."

Ed barely heard him. "All right then, I'll start with this shelf."

Al walked over to a row of shelves. "Okay, I'll start from over here."

I chose a small row and picked up a book. _The History of Chimeras_. What a bland name. I shrugged and started to read.

Mustang looked at us. "All right, you three, I have to get back to work. I'll send someone to get you before dark."

I gave a small wave. "Kay."

"Thanks." Al told him.

Ed was already too far gone to notice him.

Tucker chuckled. "He has an amazing ability to focus. When he's reading, he doesn't even hear the voices around him."

From my peripheral vision, I saw Mustang look at Ed with-was that pride? "Yes. You know he's not average, becoming a State Alchemist at such a young age."

A dark look I couldn't quite decipher flitted across Tucker's face. "I guess...geniuses really do exist."

They left, and I returned to my book.

* * *

**A/N: (Mati) The 'Mario' thing refers to the Game Theory(on Youtube) that Mario is insane. It's actually pretty cool. You should check it out when you get the chance.**

**So, that's all for now! If you want more, you give reviews! *rubs fingers together like she's asking for money***

**Angie: *rolls eyes* Blackmailing your readers...smooth.**

**Mati: *defensively* C'mon, you were annoyed when nobody reviewed, too!**

**Angie: Yeah, but I was still planning to update!**

**Mati: No, you weren't! I wasn't going to, and we're the same person!**

**Piper: Oh, shut up, you two! *holds up big metal pipe* Or do I need to intervene?**

**Angie/Mati: *gulps* N-No!**

**Well, have a good holiday, guys!**

**Ciao, bella!**


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hey, guys! Welcome to 2015! Feels weird, doesn't it? Man...That means that my birthday is in nine days...**

***sighs* Anyways. Here's chapter nineteen. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own, so don't sue.**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

A small tap on my shoulder made me look up from my book. Immediately, I got a face full of tongue.

"Gah! Stupid dog!" I pushed him away and rubbed at my face.

Nina looked at me from her position on top of Alexander. "Hi! What's your name?"

I gave a small smile, still trying to wipe my face. "I'm Lina. And you?"

She beamed at me. "I'm Nina! Can I call you Big Sister?"

I felt a pang in my chest. "Sure. What do you need?"

"I'm bored...can you play with me and Alexander?"

"Okay. Just make sure that that dog keeps his tongue away from me."

* * *

The clock chimed 5, making me stop and swear before remembering Nina.

"Big Sister, what does 'shit' mean?" Nina blinked at me innocently from her place atop Al. I had decided to drag him down with me, and now he was giving her a piggyback ride.

"U-uh...It's a bad word. It means something nasty. I don't ever want to hear you saying it, 'kay?" I told her, berating myself for teaching her a new word.

"Okay!" She beamed, bouncing.

I gave a sigh. "Now, let's get Big Brother to play with us!"

"How? Ed would never let us drag him with us." Al asked.

I smirked and patted his shoulder. "Watch and learn, Al." I turned to Alexander. "Now, get him, boy!"

Somehow, he understood. Giving a big goofy smile, the huge fiendish canine leaped toward Ed while I ducked for cover.

"GYAAAAAAAAA!"

I snickered while Al looked at me. "That's kind of mean, Lina."

I gave a shrug. "He laughed at me when that mutt jumped me."

"But you laughed at him before that."

"Details!"

Ed pushed Alexander off and scowled at us. "What the hell are you two doing?! You're supposed to be looking through data, not messing around!"

Al raised his hands in defense. "She dragged me along."

Ed glared at me. "Well?!"

Nina interrupted us. "Hey, Big Brother! Alexander says he wants you to play with him, too!" Ed turned to him and promptly got a face full of dog tongue. I grinned. _Karma._

Edward slowly pushed Alexander away and wiped his face, twitching slightly. "Hmph...You've got a lot of nerve asking me to play with you, dog." Alexander looked at him, totally oblivious to the dark vibes coming from Ed. I smirked and slowly backed away, waiting for the explosion. "They say that catching a mere rabbit takes every bit of a lion's strength...JUST TRY TO SIT ON ME AGAIN, YOU CANINE FIEND! I, EDWARD ELRIC, WILL FIGHT YOU WITH MY ENTIRE BODY AND SOUL!" Ed sprang up and began chasing Alexander around the room while Nina and I laughed.

"How immature…" Al muttered under his breath.

* * *

A few hours later, Havoc poked his head inside the room. "Yo, Chief, Al, Angie. I'm here to pick you up." He took a closer look. "What…"

Alexander was sitting triumphantly on Ed. Nina and I were sitting on top of Alexander while Al watched. Ed was moaning "Owowowowowowow…"

"We're teaching Ed a lesson." I told Havoc cheerfully.

With some effort, Ed forced us off of him and sat up. "Ow...Ahem...Let's just say that I'm taking a little break from my research."

Tucker came up. "Ah, Ed. Did you find any useful data?"

Ed began to reply, but was interrupted by Alexander's paw landing on his head. Noticing his look of irritation, Tucker quickly told him, "You can come back tomorrow."

As Ed staggered off, trying to regain his dignity, Nina looked up at Al. "Are you gonna come back?" Her face was so innocent…

"Uh-huh. Let's play again tomorrow." I vaguely heard Al tell her. God...I felt so bad looking at her now...I…

"Angie, the colonel wants to talk to you before you go." Havoc told me. snapping me out of it. I managed a smile and walked out of the Tucker house.

Quietly, I heard Havoc tell Tucker, "Oh, Mr. Tucker, I have a message from the colonel. He said, 'Please don't forget that the assessment date is coming up'."

"Yes, I know." The door closed.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah...not the most exciting chapter. I'm having a bit of a hard time getting time to write, what with school and all. Hopefully, it'll get better when summer arrives again.**

**Well, that's all for now!**

**Ciao, bella!**


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: AND NOW, THE CHAPTER YOU ALL HAVE(Probably not) BEEN WAITING FOR!**

**CHAPTER TWENTY!**

**I want to take this time(and Author's Note) to thank everyone who inspired me to keep posting:**

**My Followers: yoyowezy, Sarahhosmer01, Seepingshadows, Like Stars in the Sky, TheKawaiiPatato, 8ofhearts, Anthem of the Lonely, Rikiblade, ThatAnimeGirl12, snowcoloredwolf, Christmasloot, Jazeoth, thetimelordofdistrict12, Dream-Palace, SkyLion27, Malin Dragneel, Pure Onyx, Alynn-Aorels, redneckswagger, Fandom Jumping Expert, LunarWanderer1420, 123QuirkE, A Very Desperate Reader, SxEGirl, Takara Rose Oizumi, Elsa - 18, Your Guardian Angel in the Sky, KonekoNoRenkinjutsushi, StarHobbit, CalicoKitty402, abi prez, wavelights, InkSouled, A Furry Cat, MaddySan5926, The Utterly Fabulous Z, blueorgray1236, and Baka53  
**

**My Favoriters: yoyowezy, Sarahhosmer01, Like Stars in the Sky, 8ofhearts, Anthem of the Lonely, Rikiblade, Raziel104, snowcoloredwolf, Christmasloot, Ed FanGirl, thetimelordofdistrict12, SkyLion27, LunarWanderer1420, abi prez, Elsa - 18, ****KonekoNoRenkinjutsushi, Simplewriting, CalicoKitty402, MaddySan5926, The Utterly Fabulous Z, Cookie-chan99, and Roningirlkisa  
**

**My Reviewers: Anthem of the Lonely, yoyowezy, Rikiblade, Ed FanGirl, Curlscat, Christmasloot, Thoroughly Misguided(Who gave me the title!), redneckswagger, Felis Lupis, Guest, Blackroserevan, and The Utterly Fabulous Z**

**My friend, MaximumRide191, who actually made an account just to fav me(Which you really didn't have to do, love)!**

**And everyone who took time to read this!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty

"What happened earlier?"

I sighed and looked at Mustang. "I'm sorry about that. It's just…" I puffed out my cheeks and blew out air. "I really hate Tucker. He-You saw Nina, right? He turns her into a chimera."

Mustang grimaced and rubbed his forehead. "God. You must be kidding."

I gave a grim smile. "Nope. I'm hoping to stop him, but…Well. You know, it's started. We're at the first-no, second-book right now." I was overwhelmed by a feeling of panic. "Roy...I don't think I can do this. I mean, it's one thing to read these things. It's quite another to actually experience it. What if I mess up?"

He looked at me, his dark look softening. "Hey. You're only human. It's okay if you mess up. Things happen. You can't be expected to fix the whole world."

I gave him a sharp look. "But I have to do what I can. And with Nina…" I grimaced. "She's just a child! She doesn't deserve to be turned into a monster! I have to do something to save her..."

Mustang stood up. "We'll do what we can when the time comes. For now, just get some sleep. You look exhausted."

I felt my resolve dissolve, the mask I tried to keep up constantly crumble. "Roy...I don't want her to haunt me, too."

He looked at me for a long time, then gave me a small, sad smile. "I know. I understand. Get some sleep. We'll do what we can tomorrow."

I left his office, mind still racing. She wouldn't be changed tomorrow...but I still felt apprehensive.

Was I missing something?

* * *

_You're in an empty hall. You look around, trying to figure out where you are and desperately searching for signs of life. There aren't any._

_There's a door ahead of you. As you walk toward it, the floor begins rumbling. You take look behind you and see shadows rapidly engulfing the hall. The darkness is racing towards you._

_Panic shoots through you and you begin running to the door. Behind you, the darkness tears into the hall, making way to emptiness. You reach the doorknob and fling open the door just as the shadows touch your right leg._

_Agony. You scream out loud, but manage to get into the room and close the door as the black tendrils wrap around your leg. All at once, the pain disappears._

_You take deep breaths, trying to regain your breath, then look around. You're inside a bare white room. The door that you entered through has disappeared._

_"Uh...hello?" You call out, looking around uncertainly._

_"Behind you."_

_You twirl around, hands prepped to clap, when you see her. Standing there and smiling, an angelic portrait, marred by the bleeding wound on her head._

_Rika._

_"Hi, Angie." She says, smiling as if you're just having a friendly conversation, like she's not...like you didn't…_

_"What do you want?" You whisper in a hoarse voice._

_She laughs. "Nothing. But…" Her face darkens. "I was here to tell you something. I've forgotten what it was." Suddenly, she jerks. "Oh, yes." She smiles, and the corners of her mouth are suddenly stained with blood. "Nina says hello."_

_You stumble backward as a figure appears behind Rika. It's a dog-like animal. It opens its mouth, and an unearthly voice comes from it. "Big Sister…? Big Sister…?"_

_No. No, no, no, no, no…_

_"No, no, you're still okay...it's not my fault...No..."_

_Screams start to come from Nina, and suddenly they're everywhere, tortured shrieks, hysterical laughs._

_"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE US?"_

_No!_

* * *

The birds were chirping when I jerked awake, covered in sweat. Instinctively, I grasped the charms on my necklace. Oh, god…

I fell out of bed and shakily stumbled to the living room. Ed was there, having breakfast. A huge stack of waffles was in the center of the table. He looked up as I entered. "You okay? You looked like you were having a pretty bad nightmare."

I shook my head and forced a smile. "Nah. I'm fine." In reality, it was one of the worse nightmares I had had since Rika's death. I didn't tell Ed that, though. I'd actually never told him when I had a nightmare(which, frankly, was a lot of the time). I figured that he didn't need to worry about me. He had enough to worry about already.

He gave me a skeptical look, but dropped it.

I sat down and grabbed a waffle. "So, what are we doing today?"

"I want to look at Tucker's research again. He had a lot of good information, but I didn't get everything I needed, since someone sicced a dog on me."

I shrugged and bit into my waffle. "Well, who laughed when said dog jumped on me?"

"Well, who laughed at me when the dog jumped on me first?"

I nodded in submission and continued eating, still living the nightmare I had woken up from. If we were going back to that hellhole that was the Tucker house, I needed to come up with a plan.

I couldn't let Nina haunt me. I couldn't let her die.

I had to find a way to get her out.

* * *

**A/N: Man. I just love making my character miserable, don't I? Sorry this chapter wasn't that interesting.**

**Anyways! *starts dancing* Tomorrow I turn 14! Yeah, I said that I'd post on my birthday. Sorry for lying. The problem is I got into some, ah...trouble with my folks. I decided to post today just to make sure that I would post at all. **

**Another thing is...when I got in trouble, one of the things my folks did is forbid me to write for two weeks. Yeah, it sucks. This means that Chapter Twenty-One may take a while to finish. However, I may change the covers soon. I got some friends to draw covers for me, and I just need to scan them.**

**As I said before, thank you, everyone, even if all you did was look at this! I love you all! Muah! :3**

**Ciao, bella!**


	22. Not a Chapterbut a rewrite

**A/N: **Looks around nervously** Shh! Our parents don't know that we're here...we're supposed to be taking a shower...but we wanted to let you know that we're still alive and thank you for still faithfully following this...**

**Mati: Here...we rewrote the prologue for you...vote on whether we should replace the old prologue with this on our profile...or just review, that works too...We're putting the hiatus notice at the end of this...  
**

**Angie: Love you guys~ Muah~**

Prologue

The white place faded away to reality. Time sped up. With a slightly guttural cry, I leapt forward, clapped my hands, and transmuted the air to pin Father to the ground. He struggled, but couldn't free himself. Looked like he was out of extra power. Lucky for me.

"Mei."

The young girl looked at me, startled. Tears still shone on her face. I kept my voice calm and composed.

"Can you please heal Ed? Or at least fix him?"

"But-"

"Just. Do. It." Mei gave me a slightly frightened look, but made her way to Ed and drew a circle. She placed her hands on the circle, and it glowed for a second before fading away. I looked at his body, now with a healed neck. If not for the fact that his eyes were wide open, dull with death and still showing shock, he might have been simply sleeping-

No.

Concentrate, Lina.

"Bring him here."

In a minute, I had everything ready. I took a deep breath, preparing for the plunge into that place, then let it out.

I was not going to let that thing take Edward. Not today.

I clapped my hands and brought them down on the Homunculus and the body of the boy I now realised I loved.

**A/N: Hey, guys! Unfortunately, this is ****not** **a chapter.**

**Piper: Looks like you'll have to agonize about Nina's fate a little longer. :D**

**Mati: More like a ****lot** **longer.**

**Lina: *grimaces* Yeah...That's what this 'chapter' is about. See, this semester, I got 3 As and 5 Bs...which did not make my folks happy.**

**Mati: *pouts* They took our computer privileges away.**

**Piper: *growls* For the whole frickin school year!**

**Lina: *grits teeth* Yeah...In other words, you won't be seeing us until June. That is, ****if** **we get our grades up. I don't even want to know what they'll do if our grades ****drop****.**

**Mati: *sighs* Well, they did threaten us with summer school if we got a C…**

**Lina: Well, that's the whole of it. We may manage to get our writing privileges back. Who knows? Until then, stay golden, guys! I love you all!**

**Ciao, bella!**


	23. RANDOM OMAKE

**A/N: Piper: Y'all better be grateful.**

**Angie: **sprawled on desk** Gods...this was only supposed to be a short story. How'd it become ****nine pages long****?!**

**Mati: Yeah...we've put a lot of time and effort into this. Hence Piper demanding gratitude.**

**Piper: And we never get reviews, either! Why do we even bother?!**

**Angie and Mati: **together** Because it's not about the reviews and we like writing.**

**Piper: **rolls eyes** Sure...enjoy.**

**Angie: And just as a treat, this is gonna be posted on both Behind the Scenes (its rightful place) and A Brighter Flame, Another Hope, cause I know a lot of people follow ABFAH and don't check BtS that much.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own FMA. However, we do own the Hughes family.**

New Year's Day

"Come stay with my family!"

I looked into Hughes' smiling face. "Uh?"

"You're on your own for this trip, right?"

"Yeah…" That was a bit of a sore subject. Al and Ed had found a new lead, but had decided to leave me behind.

"Do you have a place to stay yet?"

"No…"

"Then come on!"

"But-"

"Gracia won't mind! And it's New Year's Day!"

I blinked, then looked through my mental calendar. Huh. So it was.

"Pleaseeeeeeeeee?" Now he was starting to give me puppy dog eyes.

I gave in. "...Fine…" He perked up immediately.

"Perfect! There's a family party tonight! You'll be one of us! The aunts and uncles are going to love you!"

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

I could hear them before I even reached the front door. It sounded like there was a lot of people in there. I started to get a little nervous. What if they didn't like me?

_Calm down,_ I told myself. _They won't even know you're there._ With that, I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

The door swung open to reveal a smiling Gracia. "Hello! You must be Angeline. You look exactly as Maes described!"

I blinked. "He talks about me?"

"Of course! He sees himself as a bit of a father to you."

My cheeks heated up. She saw my look and laughed. "I suppose that he wanted to say that himself, then. I'm sorry if I made anything uncomfortable for you. Please, come in! I'll take your cloak for you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes. Don't worry, I'll be okay." I told her, giving a small smile. "And please, call me Lina."

"If you say so. In return, I have to ask you to call me Gracia." I could see why Hughes loved her so much. She was insanely kind and had a smile that could light up the room.

"Okay…Gracia."

A little girl rushed in. "Mama, Mary took my doll and won't give it back! Make her give it back!"

Gracia knelt down in front of the girl. "Elicia, you remember what I said about Mary?" At Elicia's nod, she continued. "Well, I don't think it'll hurt to let her have it for a while more. After all, she doesn't have any. This is a rare treat for her."

Elicia pouted, but nodded. "Okay…" She looked at me. "Who's she?"

"This is Big Sister Lina. She doesn't have a place to stay, so Daddy's letting her stay with us for the night. Lina, this is my daughter, Elicia."

I smiled and waved at her. To my surprise, the little girl glomped my legs, causing me to lose my balance a bit.

"Hi, Big Sister! You look like Daddy!"

I laughed and patted her head.

"Maes is waiting for you in the living room." Gracia told me. I nodded and tried to take a step, but Elicia tripped me up a bit. "Elicia, let Big Sister walk." Elicia reluctantly let go and I made my way to the living room.

It was packed. The room was full of people and the room was filled with chattering voices and laughter. Little children played tag, weaving around the legs of adults.

In other words, it seemed like a happy family gathering.

"Lina!" Hughes had spotted me and waved to me, pushing his way through the sea of bodies. He was beaming. "You made it!"

"Well, I am staying here tonight…"

He threw an arm around me and winked. Before I could figure out what he meant by it, he called out, "Everybody! Your attention, please!"

Everything went silent and all heads turned to me.

"What are you doing?!" I hissed. He ignored me.

"This is Angeline Morgan! She's staying with us for the night, so for now, please treat her as part of the family!"

There was an awkward silence for a while. My palms (sorry, palm...my metal one was as cold as ever) began to sweat.

Finally, a woman with long silver-streaked black hair and a kindly smile stepped forward. She gave me a smile. "Of course." She draped an arm around me and gave me a small hug, then turned to face the family. "As of tonight, and from now on, Angeline is an honorary member of the Hughes clan!"

With that, the room exploded into conversation. People came forward to introduce themselves to me. It was as if I had actually become part of the family. Soon, my head was filled with names I struggled to remember.

"I'm Gram Hannah, dear."

"I'm your Uncle Jake!"

"I'm Aunt Lisa, and this is your cousin Matthew."

"You can call me Aunt Eliza, love." The woman who had given me the hug told me. "Come to me if you need anything. I know this family can be a bit...much sometimes."

I don't think I'd ever smiled that much that day. My face actually began to hurt. I didn't care.

In a twisted way, the 'jump' may have been a good thing. I had lost everything I had known...but it looked like I'd gained a 'family' in return.

Maybe this 'equivalent exchange' had been good…

* * *

"So, where'd our Maes pick you up?"

My fork froze on its way to my mouth. I took a small gulp and looked up from my food to look at the speaker (Uncle...Hank…? It was hard to remember all of the people).

Eventually, we'd all filed into the dining room to have dinner. I was surprised by how many people managed to squeeze into the table. Now, it looked like the personal questions were starting…

"Uhm...do you mean where we met? I've, uh...been traveling with the Fullmetal Alchemist…"

"Oh, the Fullmetal Alchemist? I hear a lot about him, how he's the youngest to become a State Alchemist. Is it true that he wears a huge metal suit of armor? I hear that's how he got the title."

Great. I'd just taken a drink of water, and now I snorted, sending water all over my shirt. "No, no," I laughed while trying to mop up the water, "That's Al, Ed's younger brother. Nah, Ed's just a hot-headed little shorty."

I'd definitely pay for that one if Ed found out, but I didn't care much. At least I could tell him that Hughes was laughing, too. Maybe that would save me a bit.

"Ah, I see...So how did he get the title? And how'd you two meet?"

I pretended to not hear and hurriedly changed the subject. "So, how did Maes and Gracia meet?"

A woman's eyes lit up (I think it was Gram Hannah) and she began the story in an animated voice. I inwardly gave a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit, listening to the story with interest.

All too soon, though, the spotlight turned back to me. "So, tell us where you're from." Someone said, looking at me expectantly.

Ah, crap. I paled a bit, trying to remember my story. "Well, uh, I'm...from...Creta. Not a native!" I said quickly, looking at someone's disbelieving face. "Mom and Dad were both Amestrians. They moved when I was born. We moved back when I was...three? They...were killed in the Ishbalan war."

A man shook his head. "Of course. The damn war. So many people died…" Hughes was looking at me with a strange expression on his face. It occurred to me that he'd never heard my 'back story'.

I looked down. "Yeah...After they died...I kinda drifted around…"

"You didn't have a guardian?" Aunt Eliza was sitting right next to me and was now looking at me with horror.

I furiously tried to backtrack. "No, I did, my grandmother...but she died a while back. Then I met the Elric boys...and a friend of theirs adopted me." I felt a small twinge of sadness. Pinako hadn't actually adopted me...so I actually was guardian-less…

Everyone was looking at me with a mixture of sadness and horror. Finally, Aunt Eliza (I really was starting to love her) leaned over and gave me a sideways hug. I gave her a small smile and leaned into the hug. It felt warm and comforting.

* * *

I waved as people began to leave. It was a warm night, and even with the light pollution, the stars were shining brightly. Aunt Eliza gave me a kiss on the cheek and squeezed my hand before climbing into her car and driving away.

"Hey, Lina. May I talk to you?" Hughes raised an eyebrow and looked at me. I gave a nod, wondering what he wanted to talk about. "Come on, let's walk."

I followed him down the lamp-lit street. Finally, he spoke.

"You were lying, weren't you." It wasn't a question. I looked at him with surprise. How could he tell? He saw my look and snorted. "Please. I deal with telling lies. I'd be out of a job if I couldn't tell that you were lying. Now, tell me the truth. Please. You can trust me."

I looked into his face and slowly nodded.

"Are you really from Creta?"

I shook my head. "No. I've never gone to Creta."

"Where are your parents?"

"Dead to me." At his look, I sighed and elaborated. "In another...universe, I guess." Before he could say anything, I gave him a glare. "No, I'm not an alien."

Man. This would take a long, long time. I sat down and got ready to retell the Epic Tale of Angeline.

* * *

...Yeah. By the time I finished, I could swear that it seemed to be getting lighter. I rubbed a suddenly sweaty hand on my blue cloak while I waited for Hughes to speak.

"...Okay."

...Um…

"...You believe me. Just like that."

"Well, I can tell that you're not lying. So yes. I suppose I do believe you. Although it's as crazy as hell."

The people in this universe were insane. It felt good to be believed, though.

_God..._A wave of sadness washed over me. The last time I'd spilled out my guts like this...was with her.

"So…" I puffed out my cheeks and let out a breath. "Now what? What are you going to do, now that you know?"

He shrugged. "There's not really much I can do, is there? It's not like I can report you. Who'd believe me?"

_Maybe Bradley? I mean, he's a homunculus; it's not like a dimension jumper is any odder…_ I kept my mouth shut.

"Do the Elrics know?"

I shook my head. "No. I'd like to keep it a secret as long as possible. It's just-" I ran a hand through my hair. "Do you know how hard it is, knowing everything that's going to happen? And it's not just the good things. I know everyone who could die." _Or at least most of them…_

Before I could stop myself, the words came out. "I even know that you might die."

He froze next to me. "Pardon?"

I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands. "Hughes...you've been my favorite character since I...read about you. I know...I know that if I don't do something, you might die." I felt a lump in my throat. "If you die, it'll be my fault...do you have any idea how hard that is for me?! Don't you think that I hate myself for that?!" I could feel myself growing hysterical. My voice rose and became more strangled until I was all but screaming at Hughes. I started to say something, but was cut off by a pair of warm arms circling me and drawing me close.

I stood there, stunned, as Hughes sat down and hugged me.

"Lina…" His voice calmed me down. "Hey. It's okay…"

"What do you mean, it's okay?!"

"Look at me. No, seriously, Lina. Look at me." I slowly looked up at him. "If I die, it will be because I was meant to die. It won't be your fault. I know that you'll try your best to help, but you can't blame yourself if I die. You can't save everybody, so don't waste time worrying about it."

I looked back down and didn't say anything.

After a while, he sighed. I felt him lean back, using his arms to support his weight. "Y'know...part of the reason I asked you to stay at my house was because I wanted to ask you if you wanted me to adopt you.

What?

I looked at him with a mix of confusion and surprise. "Adopt me? Why?"

"I…" Another sigh. "I think that you're a good kid, and you deserve to have a family. Even before you told me, I'd checked the records. I'm not sure if you know this, but it says that you don't have any guardians."

Hm. That was a problem. If anyone else found out, I could get sent to an orphanage or something.

"And...I care about you."

A slightly warm feeling spread over me. He cared about me. I remembered what Gracia had said about Hughes considering himself a father to me. It was...a new feeling for me. I liked it…

"So, what do you say?"

Would it really be so bad to be adopted by the Hughes' family? They already seemed to like me...and it'd be great to have a place to sleep...with a loving family...but…

"I'm sorry, Hughes, but I think I'll have to decline, at least for now."

I could feel surprise radiating from him. "Why?"

"Because...I need to stay with the Elrics. I still have a...mission, so to say, and I need the...freedom right now."

He laughed. "I see. Does this have anything to do with your crush on Ed?"

I jumped. "What?! No! I don't have a crush on Ed! Why would you say that?!"

"Ah, young love…"

"Are you even listening?!"

He ignored my screech. "I understand what you mean. I won't push you on it, but once this is all over, expect me to bring it up again."

I rolled my eyes in exasperation, ignoring the warm feeling that was spreading through me again. "Yes, Dad…"

"That's Future Dad to you."

A sigh from me. "Happy New Year, Mr. Hughes."

"Happy New Year, Lina."


	24. Chapter 21

**A/N: GUESS WHO'S BACK?! :D :D :D**

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**Mati: Oh, and some more news. If anyone knows the GerIta fanfic ****Behind Blue Eyes****, you should know that the author has deleted it off her site. NOT TO FEAR! I HAVE GOOD NEWS! Turns out, the author has let me adopt it! :D So look forward to that!**

**Piper: Let's just get to the chapter, hm?**

**Angie: *pouts* Fine. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

"Hmm...so your mom left two years ago…"

Nina hummed in confirmation. "Uh-huh. Daddy said she went back to her parents' house."

"Really?" Al looked at her with interest(or as much interest as a metal helmet could show). A few feet away, Ed had his face buried in a book, pretending not to listen. "It must be lonely living in a big house like this with just the two of you."

Nina laughed and hugged Alexander. The mutt gave a doggy smile and nuzzled her. "No, it's not! Daddy's nice to me, and I have Alexander, too! But…" She buried her face into Alexander's fur. She seemed a bit subdued. "Lately Daddy's always in his laboratory with the door locked...so it's a little lonely."

Al and I looked at each other. Ed pretended not to notice. After a few seconds of silence, Ed put his book down and massaged his neck. "Ah, man...All this reading is making my shoulders cramp up. Day after day…"

"Exercise is the best cure for shoulder cramps, big brother." Al told him. Ed nodded and got up, stretching.

"You're right. I guess I'll go work out a little in the yard." He pointed a finger at Alexander. "Hey, dog! I'll play with you for exercise!"

"Come on, Nina. You too." Nina looked at Al for a second, then gave him a big smile. "Hey, Lina, do you want to join us?"

I shook my head. "I'll stay here." Maybe I could find something on reversing chimera transmutations. It would be useful if I failed.

If I failed...

The others rushed off, and I was left alone. I gave a small sigh, then looked at the chapter I was on.

Chapter Three: History of Biological Transmutations

_Since the Xingese, Cretans, and Amestrians discovered alchemy humans have been experimenting with combining life forms. The first known biologic transmutation was performed by a Cretan named Askel using the cretan brand of alchemy (known as Alkemirastry). Askel merged a cat and a wolf together, creating a creature he called a kulv. This created an uproar among the Cretans, some believing it abhorrent and some believing that it was a sign from Totuus, the Cretan god of crossroads, showing them a new way of living._

After that, the chapter moved off track of Creta and began to talk about how biological transmutation had evolved in Amestris. I frowned and started flipping through the book. There were no more mentions of Creta. I was still anxious for more, though. It looked like the Cretans had some alchemy of their own! I had never thought about the other countries as having alchemy as well. It also looked as if they dealt with a bit of biological transmutation as well. Maybe if I went to Creta, I could find some of my answers…

The sound of laughing drifted through a window facing the streets, followed by some screaming. They sounded like they were having fun. I wanted to join them, really. It was just...I didn't belong. I was an intruder. I didn't deserve to-

Nina rushed into the room, startling me. "Hey, Big Sister!" She called. "Come play with us!"

"Ah, I-" I started to say, but Nina's wide-eyed look stopped me. She looked so cute…

"Please?"

My resolve crumbled. "O-okay…"

She gave me a big smile and started pulling on my arm. "Come on, then! Let's go! Let's go!"

I gave a laugh and let her drag me out the door. _I guess I can just read later…_

I didn't get to read later.

* * *

_You are standing in front of an enormous mansion. How you got there, you have no idea. The mansion looks familiar, though…_

_The mansion door opens before you get the chance to knock, and your mother looks out. Anything you were about to say dies in your throat. Her face changes from surprise to disgust when she notices you. "You. What are you doing here? I thought you ran away."_

"_Mom," You finally croak out. "I-"_

"_Don't call me that! I'm not your goddamn mother!"_

_You gave birth to me! You are my mother! You can't just deny it, like it's just a damn title!_

_She continues, deaf to your internal screaming. "Just piss off! We were better off without you! Why couldn't you stay away?"_

_You lick your suddenly dry lips. "How can you do this? How can you just cast your own flesh and blood away?"_

_She doesn't listen. "Do you want money? Is that what you're here for?" She reaches for a purse and starts rummaging within it. "Ungrateful bitch. I'll give you the money if it will make you go away, though."_

"_I don't want your money!"_

_Her head snaps up. "Then why are you here?"_

_You desperately search for an answer. "I-I-" Why are you there? Why bother coming here, when you know that all you'll get is heartbreak? You begin to tear up. "Can't I just be here because-because this is my home?"_

_She sneers. "Not anymore."_

_The door slams in your face._

* * *

_Ugh. Not another nightmare._ I groaned and rubbed my neck, releasing my necklace. I was used to having nightmares four times a week, but this week had been especially bad. This would be my fifth nightmare in a row. Maybe it was because of Nina…?

I shook my head. _Stop moping. Remember, we need to get her out today. Tomorrow…tomorrow will be too late._ I sighed and ran a hand through my tousled hair, then got up to change.


	25. Chapter 22

**A/N: OH MY GODS, GUYS. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT WE'RE ALREADY AT THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS STORY?! THIS IS AMAZING! :D :D :D**

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**Disclaimer: Yes, we own FMA! *tries to draw Ed, but it turns out like a scribble* ...On the other hand, we better give the rights to Arakawa-sama.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was cloudy when we reached the Tucker mansion. Ed glanced around as we walked up to the door. "It's gonna rain for sure today."

I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Al rang the doorbell. There was no reply. He tested the door, which ominously swung open to reveal an empty hall.

We looked in. When nobody arrived to greet us, we cautiously walked in. "Uh, hello? Mr. Tucker? It's us again..." Al called out.

"Maybe they're not home…" Ed suggested uneasily. The bad feeling worsened, and I gripped Ed's flesh arm. He looked at me with surprise. "Lina? What's wrong?" I simply shook my head and started looking around us.

We wandered down the hall, Ed and Al occasionally calling out for Tucker or Nina. Finally, we heard Tucker calling from his lab.

The room was shrouded in darkness. The only light that illuminated the room was that from the hall. Tucker was kneeling on the floor, looking at something that was obscured by the slightly closed door.

"Look," Tucker told us, finally turning to face us, "It's my newest creation." He stood up and gestured to the thing behind the door, and Al slowly opened it to show us Tucker's newest creation.

"It's a chimera that talks like a human."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. My legs suddenly gave out from under me, and I dropped to the floor.

Al kneeled down next to me. "Are you okay? What happened?" I waved him off weakly, with a small "I'm fine, I'm fine", despite my mind screaming, _No, it's not fine, I'm not okay, not okay at all!_ My eyes remained glued to it-no, her.

I was too late. I had miscalculated. I had screwed up.

Nina was a chimera.

My mind went into a haze. I vaguely noticed Ed kneel next to me, looking at Nina. She said something, and he stiffened. His eyes widened before narrowing into molten gold strips. _So he found out._

Ed's voice, slightly muffled, cut into the fog. "Mr. Tucker… When was it that you first got your license? By making the first chimera that spoke human words?"

"Uh...that was two years ago."

"And when did your wife leave?"

There was a pause before he replied. "That was two years ago, too."

"...Can I ask you one more question?" Ed turned to Tucker, eyes blazing with repressed fury. "What happened to Nina and Alexander?"

Tucker just glared at Ed with cold eyes. "I hate perceptive brats like you…"

In one fluid motion, Ed grabbed Tucker by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "Big brother!" Al shouted, but was ignored.

"So that's what happened! You scum! How could you?! Two years ago it was your wife! This time you made a chimera out of your own daughter and a dog!"

Alphonse gave a start and whipped his head around to face Nina. "That...that's Nina?!"

I shook the fog away and stood up. My entire body screamed out to punch Tucker in the face, to make him pay, but I stopped himself. "That's right. There's only so much that you can do with animals. Humans make much better experiments, and since she's your daughter, nobody's going to miss her." My voice was cold and filled with sarcasm.

Tucker groaned. "Why are you all so mad? The progress of medicine...the progress of human knowledge...is the result of experimenting on humans. Someone has to do it, as a scientist...You should be the first to-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ed's enraged scream cut him off. "Do you think you're going to get away with this? Playing around with people's lives?!"

It was the wrong thing to say. Tucker gave a slightly crazed laugh. "People's lives? Ha ha! Yes, people's lives! You're the Fullmetal Alchemist! You mean your brother's life...and your arm? That's also the result of 'playing around with people's lives,' yes?"

Ed snapped and punched Tucker. It only made him laugh more.

Then he turned his attention to me. "And you, Ms. Morgan. Don't think that I've forgotten you. Out of you three, you and I are the most alike."

I felt my body turn cold. "What the hell are you saying…?"

"Don't act stupid. I can tell. You're playing around with people's lives as well. After all, you're manipulating these boys, aren't you? I wonder what your motive is? What are you trying to gain? And who else are you playing around with, I wonder?"

My legs felt shaky again. "No...I'm not…" Edward and Alphonse looked at me, their doubts suddenly showing. They believed him. They didn't trust me.

"I'm guessing that you also performed human transmutation, or else you wouldn't be with the Elric brothers. Why did you perform human transmutation, though? Did you really have a reason?" Another mad laugh. "No, I suppose you and Edward are no different than I! You thought you could do it, so you did! You couldn't help but try even if it was forbidden! In fact, because it's forbidden!"

Edward gave a scream and punched him. "THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Punch. "WE ALCHEMISTS-" Punch. "WOULD NEVER DO THAT-" Punch. "WE'D NEVER-" Punch. "I'D NEVER-!"

Al grabbed his older brother's arm, stopping him from punching Tucker again. "Edward." His voice was flat. "Any more and you'll kill him."

All the fight went out of Ed. He let Tucker slump to the ground. "Haha...pretty words don't get anything done-"

I interrupted him with a boot in his face, knocking him out. "Shut. The. Hell. Up." I growled. "You sicken me. Nobody could ever drop to your level. Not me, and definitely not Edward. You will never understand our circumstances." I gave him another kick for measure. "Go to hell, you bastard."

I straightened and gave an apologetic look to Al. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

He shook his head. "If you didn't attack him, I would have snapped." He went and knelt down in front of Nina, gently petting her. "Nina...I'm sorry. We don't have the skill right now to turn you back to normal. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

Nina stared blankly back, her transformed mind not completely comprehending what Al was saying. "...Wanna play...wanna play...wanna play…"

The rain began to fall.

* * *

**A/N: Whee! Well, that was depressing. Sorry. Here's some fluff to make up for it!**

* * *

Daddy

"No!"

"C'mon, please?"

"N-O! No!"

"Why not?"

"Because now is not the right time! It hasn't even happened yet!"

"But it will! You agreed!"

Angeline was really regretting walking to Military Headquarters with Hughes. _I shouldn't have decided to keep the Elric brothers company. I should have just told Mustang later. I __really_ _shouldn't have agreed to let Hughes adopt me in the future._

"Linaaaa…"

_Why was Hughes my favourite character when I was on Earth, anyways?_

"Do it for me…?"

_I swear to God, if he's doing the puppy-dog eyes…_

He was. God.

It was the last straw for her. With a snarl, she spun around to face the way-too-happy man. "For God's sake, Daddy dearest! Will you please knock it off?!"

There was silence, then someone snickered. Angeline stiffened a bit, then registered her surroundings.

She was in Mustang's office. _Shit._

She slowly turned around to face her audience. Edward was shaking with silent laughs. Mustang and the others were simply smirking in amusement.

"Daddy dearest?!" Edward choked out between laughs.

Hughes was giving her a goofy smile, no doubt triumphant about his victory.

...It wouldn't be murder if they didn't find the bodies, right?

* * *

**A/N: And there you go. As always, reviews are loved. We hope to see y'all next time! Love ya!**

**Ciao, bella~**


	26. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hey, guys! As you can see, another chapter has arrived! I know, it's a miracle! :D**

**Mati: Again. We posted this as soon as we finished, so it'll take a while to post.**

**Piper: *annoyed* They take so long.**

**Angie: Just a heads-up. For some reason, we've decided to start using the UK spelling for everything/almost everything. Don't know why. Just telling ya.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

"NO!"

I stood in front of Mustang, hands curled into fists. "She can't stay here! Let her come with us!"

He regarded me with cold eyes. "Ms. Morgan," I winced at the name, "Nina Tucker-or what is left of Nina Tucker-must be taken into custody. She is now an illegal chimera, and her fate must be determined by the military."

My blood roared in my ears, and I stomped toward Mustang, jabbing a finger in his face. "Look here, Colonel," I hissed, low enough so that only he could hear, "If she stays, she will die. Now, I don't care what you say or think, but I am not going to let her die, and I don't give a rat's ass about military procedures!"

He stared back at me, unaffected. "Ms. Morgan. I am aware of what will happen. I cannot simply give a civilian-"

"-What about a major?" I cut in, brushing hair away from my forehead and glaring.

He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "-Or a major an illegal experiment without authority or paperwork." He gave me a small look, no doubt sensing my despair. "However...I can most likely arrange for the chimera to stay with you for the night. No guarantees."

I could have hugged him then and there, but I managed to hold myself back. Keeping in a smile, I gave him a small mocking salute. "Right, Colonel." Ed and Al had already left for the hotel we were staying in. I turned to leave, then stopped. "Just. If you can get her out at all, get her out before you leave. She can't stay the night there."

He gave a nod, then turned away. "Shoo, then."

I left.

* * *

"...Ed? Al? Can we talk?"

Ed looked up from the bed where he was blankly staring at the ceiling. Honestly, he looked like shit. Al jerked to look at me, obviously out of it.

I gave a sigh and slid down on the wall until I was sitting down.

"Why? It's been three years…"

They immediately knew what I meant. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Well, to an extent, we do actually trust you." Al pointed out.

"It'd help if you started trusting us," Ed pointed out. "You still need to tell us the truth."

"Not yet!" I snapped, then took a deep breath. "Ugh. Sorry. Just…With Nina…" Another deep breath. "Anyways. I wanted to ask...is there any way that I can make you trust me and vice versa?"

Ed looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut.

"There's nothing, really." Al gave a shrug. "Just...when we know the truth about you…" He trailed off.

I felt slightly defeated, but it was the best answer I could and would get. "Okay." I suddenly felt a headache coming on, and I rubbed my forehead. "Okay...it'll be soon. I promise."

A nod from Ed. "Let's get some sleep. Nothing's going to happen that soon, so we might as well rest. We can talk about this later."

I gave a nod, still massaging my forehead, and stood up, walking towards my bed. Just as I got there, the world spun, and my vision went blank. The last thing I heard before falling onto the bed was an alarmed shout.

* * *

...I can't tell you exactly what I dreamed about when I blacked out that night. All I can recall was waking up in a cold sweat, someone's voice ringing in my head. My best guess is that it was Tucker. In fact, it probably was him, which means that the dream I had must have been extremely unpleasant.

Best not to think about it.

I jerked awake from whatever nightmare I'd had. The room was pitch black; it looked like I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep.

An odd snuffling noise made me tense up and put me on high alert. I sat up quickly, putting my hand on the wall next to the bed for support and scanned the room, trying to determine if there was a burglar or something in the room.

I finally tracked the noise to a white animal that was curled up on the floor. The tension left my body and I leaned my back against the wall.

It was Nina. Looked like Mustang had pulled through. If kissing the man didn't sound so creepy and weird, I'd do it.

"Hey, Nina." I whispered. My voice cracked a bit, and I cleared it.

Nina slowly raised her head and looked at me. "Big...Sister?" Like before, I could tell that she was struggling to get the words out. Maybe something had happened during the chimera transmutation that had hindered her speech or thought.

My heart ached for her.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me, Nina." I patted a spot on the bed. "Hey. You wanna come sleep with me?"

She gave a small nod, lumbering over to me. The bed bounced as she jumped on it.

I gave her a hug and buried my face in her hair. "Nina...I'm sorry I couldn't help you." My eyes began to burn, but I refused to cry. "I'm sorry…" She gave no sound of acknowledgement. Could she even understand me?

I fell back asleep with my face still buried in her hair.

* * *

The first thing I felt when I woke up for the second time was a rough tongue on my face. I frowned and squirmed, trying to get away. It only stopped once I gave a groan and sat up, wiping my face. "Gah. Fine! I'm up, I'm up!" My tormentor gave a snort, probably of amusement. I brushed some stray hairs away from my face and mock-glared at Nina. "Thanks a lot."

"You're...welcome." Came the slow but cheeky reply. Hearing that gave me a bit of hope. If she still had humour, she might still be intelligent.

"Mmph…" I slid off the bed and began looking for clothes to wear. Nina watched me silently.

Once I was fully dressed, I went into the small living room thing of the place where the Elrics and I were staying. It was empty.

Something niggled at the back of my mind, but I didn't know what it was.

"Nina? Where's Ed and Al?" It was slightly odd, but I had no problem talking to Nina normally even as she was.

She cocked her head and looked at me. "Dunno. Think...went out? Big...Brother...had bad dream."

Oh.

Shit.

* * *

**A/N: Yup. She missed Scar. Whoops. XD Nina's so adorable.**

**Welp. That's all for now. See ya~**

**Ciao, bella!**


	27. Chapter 24

**A/N: And we are back!**

**Mati (seems like I'm taking over mostly today): There's an AN at the bottom that you guys really should read. Nothing much to say here. Enjoy!**

**Piper: No, the next chapter is not written yet. Sorry.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

Useless!

Idiot!

How could I have slept in when Scar was attacking the Elrics?!

Stupid!

Stupid!

Stupid!

I kept berating myself as I rushed out of the hotel, pulling my cloak on as I ran. Of all the dumb things…

Luckily for me, it wasn't hard to find where the Elric brothers were. The street nearby was crowded with civilians struggling to catch a glimpse of what happened and soldiers desperately trying to maintain order.

I began to slightly panic, thinking of what could have happened to Ed and Al. After all, something might have change. They might have died. That thought did not help me, and I started to make my way through the crowd, frantically elbowing everyone in my way.

"Let me through!" I pleaded to the officer who blocked my path. "I'm Angeline Morgan! I travel with the Elric brothers!" I tried to see past him, but he blocked my line of vision.

"Lina?" Al's voice called, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Is that you?"

"Yes!" Again, I was blocked by the officer. I gave a groan of frustration and ran a hand through my tangled hair. Looks like I'd forgotten to brush it before leaving. "I can't get in! Is Ed okay?"

"Yeah. But…" I could hear the confusion in his voice. "How did you know that we were here?"

Whoops.

I thought quickly. "Well, uh...it was mostly just a lucky guess, but you guys do tend to be at the center of attention. I noticed the commotion over here and just kinda thought it'd be you guys." I frowned. "Now, can I go in?"

With a small sigh (how does armour even sigh?), he finally asked the officer to move, and I moved to where he was.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it: he looked like shit. The entire right side of him was blown off. _Yikes._

"Ah, man. Dude, I'd fix that, but I'm not too sure I could do it. I don't know the blood rune that Ed used well enough. Speaking of which...where is he?" I hoped the pipsqueak didn't get some other part of his body blown off.

"I'm right here." Said pipsqueak was standing behind me, holding the remains of his automail. He was unscathed save, obviously, his arm.

I looked at the mess of his arm and smirked. "Winry's gonna kill you."

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "How'd you find us?"

"Lucky guess." I gave a shrug.

"Lucky guess, or something to do with what you know?"

No use in lying. "I knew."

Annoyance was coming off of him in waves. "You knew that someone was going to try and kill me and you didn't think about telling me?!"

"Well, I did try to help! I just...overslept."

"So I could have died because you slept in."

"Hey!" I put my hands up. "Chances were that you'd be fine."

He threw his own arm up. "Ugh, fine. Whatever."

"Hey there, Chief, Al, Squirt." Havoc walked up to us, giving Ed and Al a wave and me a smirk. I twitched. Just because I didn't react at short comments didn't give him the right to use them! "Need some help there?"

I nodded, trying not to jump at him and wipe that dumb smirk off of his face. "Yeah. Just get him up. We'll have to put him in a box or something later."

Ed gave me a nod. "We're going to have to go back to Resembool as well."

"Why?" Havoc looked up from where he was hoisting Al up. "What's in Resembool?"

I rolled my eyes. "Our mechanic. She'll kill Ed, but she can make a new arm for Ed and that'll help Ed fix Al."

"Got it. By the way, Mustang wants you guys in his office. He wants to catch you up on Scar."

"Okay." I got behind Havoc and Al, Ed trailing close behind. "Lead the way."

* * *

"So, who and what was that guy?" Ed slumped down next to me on the couch. Hughes was there and gave me a quick smile, but quickly returned his attention to Mustang.

"His name was Scar, and he was an Ishbalan."

"Ishbalan?" Al asked. "I know what an Ishbalan is, but...what significance does that have?"

I was slightly surprised that they didn't know that much about the Ishbalans. Then again...I knew little to nothing about my own world…

Mustang gave a sigh and ran and hand through his hair. "The Ishbalans are a people from the east, who believe in one god, Ishbala. Due to religious differences, they'd always been in conflict with the central government. But thirteen years ago, when an army officer accidentally shot an Ishbalan child, the incident exploded into civil war. Riot led to riot, and soon the fires of civil war spread throughout the entire east area. After seven frustrating years, the military commanders took a new tactic: they used alchemists in an all-out genocide campaign. They were recruited as human weapons. It was an opportunity to test their suitability for war. I was one of the alchemists." He gave another sigh. "That's why there's a certain justice that one of the last surviving Ishbalans would seek revenge."

Ed shook his head. "It's still not justice. Whatever happened, he's still involving innocent people for the sake of his revenge. He's just candy-coating it by acting self-righteous and calling himself 'an instrument of God.'"

Hughes spoke up. "We're talking about someone who hates alchemy but uses that very same power to get revenge. Someone like that, who's either totally insane or doesn't care what other people think about them, is one of the most dangerous people there is. Frankly, he scares me."

Mustang rested his chin on his hand. "We can't care what people think about us, either. Because we can't afford to die yet. The next time we meet, there won't be any explanations. We'll have to kill him."

There was a silence while everyone thought about it. All around me were grim faces. Finally, Hughes sighed and put his hands on his legs, standing up. "Okay! On that cheerful note...that's enough of this pointless conversation." He turned to us. "So what are you guys going to do now?"

* * *

**A/N: Boring filler chapter is boring.**

**Mati: So sorry guys...it's just that it's at a lull in the story line. We promise that this fanfic is not going to completely follow the FMAB/Manga story line. Our little Angie will have an adventure of her own. As soon as-**checks schedule/plot line****

**Piper: Yes. We actually plotted out this whole thing.**

**Mati: Quiet. So...after they go back to Izumi, this whole plot should break off from FMAB/the manga. It will rejoin the plot line just before the mines. We hope you like what we do with it!**

**Lina: The next chapter...may take longer than this one. We're planning on taking about a week's break from this. Sorry. It's just that we have writer's block. Maybe a bit of time off will help. :P**

**Piper: Eh. Maybe. See you next chapter.**

**Ciao, bella!**


	28. Chapter 25

**A/N: Meh. Sorry, guys. This is mostly a filler chapter. :P But it needs to be here, y'know? Hopefully, we'll be able to finish the next chapter fast.**

**Mati: Hopefully.**

**Piper: When pigs fly.**

**Mati: Porco Rosso?**

**Piper: That's a cursed man, not a real pig!**

**Angie: Details. Anyways. On with la story!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five

As you know, Armstrong decided to escort us back to Resembool. The Elrics (Ed in particular) weren't too ecstatic about it, but the decision was final. I was currently sitting next to Armstrong near the aisle while Ed slept in his spot on Armstrong's other side. Armstrong himself was reading a book, which looked tiny in his enormous hands. Nina was sleeping at my feet, making small snuffling noises.

I absentmindedly fingered my MP3 player as I stared into space, deep in thought. It had been years since it had died, but I refused to go to Winry to see if it could be fixed. In order for that to happen, she'd have to dismantle it, and if she couldn't reassemble it...I'd be losing my only link to my home world.

My musing was interrupted when Armstrong jerked in his seat and leaned out of the train window, ignoring Ed's choked yells of pain as he was crushed. "Dr. Marcoh!"

The man in question turned to the train, his eyes widening as he saw the speaker. _So that's Marcoh. Thought he'd look older._

"Aren't you Dr. Marcoh? It's Alex Louis Armstrong from Central!"

Dr. Marcoh turned and bolted.

"Someone you know?" Ed asked.

"Yes...He's a skilled alchemist who was involved in the alchemy research department at Central. He was studying the use of alchemy for medical purposes, but he vanished during the Civil War."

Ed's eyes widened and he stood up, trying to push around Armstrong and head to the exit. He nearly stepped on Nina, who woke up and gave a small whine of indignation. "Let's get off!"

Armstrong moved aside. "Hmh? Don't we get off at Resembool?"

"If he used to do that kind of research, then he might know something about biological transmutation, too!"

I groaned. "Y'know, I think I'm just going to head out without you guys. You can handle it by yourself." I gave a lazy wave. "Watch out for his gun, kay?"

Ed gave me an odd look, but refrained from speaking, opting to get Al out of the livestock compartment instead.

As Armstrong and the Elrics got off the train and the train began moving again, I lay down and closed my eyes. The sound of people talking and the train's rocking eventually lulled me to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to a rough tongue on my hand. "Big...Sister?"

I gave a small groan, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "Hm?"

"Resembool." Was Nina's only reply. I shook my head to clear away the cobwebs and gave her a small smile, thanking her. We got off and started heading up the hill to where the Rockbell's house (and shop) was.

The place was exactly as I remembered it. Since I had gone off with the Elrics, I had only come here for automail maintenance. To be honest, I kind of missed being around Winry.

Den ran up to me to greet me, only to stop short at seeing Nina, who hid behind me. There was a tense second before Den slowly went up to Nina and sniffed her. Apparently, she passed the test, as Den gave a goofy dog smile and barked, showing that she approved of the newcomer.

"Hey," I spoke to Nina softly, smiling and trying to ignore the ache in my chest. "Den's a sweety. Nothing to fear. It's all right."

I was interrupted by a wrench to the head. It hit me with enough force to knock me off my feet and onto the ground.

"Fricking-" I cursed, rubbing my head. Nina whimpered and sniffed my head wound. "Dammit, Winry! What the hell was that for?!"

"I told you to call before you come in for maintenance!" Winry leaned over the railing, clearly annoyed. I glared up at the balcony.

"I don't need freaking maintenance! Jesus!"

She cocked her head, clearly confused. "Then why are you here?"

"What? I can't just pop in on a friend?"

Her answer was blunt. "No. Not when it's you."

"Ouch. I'm hurt." She was right, though. Ed, Al and I were not exactly the people who came to visit their friends regularly. That is, not without a reason. "Oh, fine. I'm good, but Ed busted his automail. He'll be here in a few hours or so. Got sidetracked."

I heard her huff. "Of course he busted it." She began to go back inside. "Well, you might as well come in. Granny Pinako's working on a customer." She turned around and gave me a bright smile. "Welcome home."

I returned it. "Glad to be back."


	29. Chapter 26

**A/N: Heya, guys!**

**Mati: What's this? An update?! Who would have thought?**

**Piper: We posted this pretty soon after finishing, so there may be some mistakes. Please tell us if you see any. Thanks.**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

"What is that?!"

We had gone upstairs so that I could put my luggage away, and Winry had gotten a good look at Nina. She stared wide-eyed at Nina, who gave a small whimper and tried to hide behind me. I gave her a small reassuring pat.

"She is Nina. Basically...her father combined her with a dog in order to keep his State Alchemist title." I gave a grimace. "The dark side of alchemy."

She looked horrified. "What kind of father would do this?!"

"Yeah, he was messed up…Nina can still think and talk, though..." I turned to Nina. "This is Big Sister Winry. Wanna say hello?"

Nina peered out from behind my legs and scrutinised Winry, then spoke up. "Hi...Big Sister...Winry." She looked up at me. "Call you...Big Sister...Lina now?"

I noted that her speech was becoming less halted. Maybe she was improving? "Okay. Big Sister Lina works."

Winry hesitantly stepped forward and kneeled in front of Nina. She looked at me, uncertainty in her eyes, and I smiled. "You can pet her, if that's what you're wondering."

There was a pause before Winry's hand reached out to rest on Nina's head. She began to gently pet Nina, who gave a small whine and leaned into the touch.

"Hey there, Nina…" Winry said quietly, never taking her eyes off of the girl chimera. "It's nice to meet you…"

"...Play with me…?"

Winry started to reply, but was interrupted by a voice coming from outside. "Winry! Our regulars are here! Winry!"

Winry's face turned annoyed. "Good...I can yell at Ed for not calling…"

I gave a laugh. "Go ahead." She walked towards the balcony. Outside, Ed and Granny Pinako were squabbling. "HEY! ED!"

I winced at the resounding clang, suddenly feeling sorry for the victim. Nina jumped, hair practically standing up, and gave an alarmed bark.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call before you come in for maintenance!"

"WINRY, YOU JERK! YOU COULDA KILLED ME!"

* * *

"Yeah, sorry. It got broken."

"What do you mean, 'it got broken'?! That was my masterpiece! A state-of-the-art automail prosthetic. Gah! Just let me see the damage so I can fix it and get you out of here!"

Ed gave a laugh. "Yeah...when I said 'broken', what I meant was 'smashed to bits'."

I saw the look on Winry's face and excused myself, taking Nina with me. Had to move fast before-

CLANG!

_Geez, Ed. Maybe you could have broken the news to her a bit gentler?_

I walked outside, quietly closing the door behind me. It didn't matter, anyways; everyone's (especially Winry's) focus was on the Elrics.

For a second, I just stared out at the valley. Everything seemed so calm; I never got this when I was with Ed and Al (Although, really, I should have known that). It was a nice change…

With a small sigh, I went to the side of the house and sat down on the grass. I took the opportunity to think of all the things I was worried about. Needless to say, I thought about a lot of things.

The sound of the door opening jerked me back to reality. I jumped, caught off guard, and looked up to face Ed and Armstrong, who was carrying Al. Den was right next to them. Armstrong set Al down and left, probably to see if he could do anything. Ed plopped down between me and Al, fuming. Den sat down next to Nina, giving her a friendly nudge.

"Sheesh…" Ed groaned. "What's with that violent woman?!"

Al laughed. "Don't act like you're surprised…"

"How long?" I asked Ed.

Al answered instead. "Three days."

I groaned, already feeling impatient. "Great, what're we going to do for three days?! There's no library…"

Ed spasmed next to me, no doubt feeling the same way as me. Den copied him. "I hate having to wait!"

Al laughed at us. "Well, it's a chance to take it easy, right? We don't get that much relaxation usually…"

I pouted at him. "There's a difference between relaxing and having absolutely nothing to do."

"Well, Ed, you could visit Mom's grave." Al suggested. "I don't know what you could do, Lina."

"Play?" Nina asked. Not a bad idea, actually…

"Looks like I'll play with Nina, then." I said, shrugging.

"Visit Mom's grave, huh…?" Ed mused, looking at Al. "But what about you? You're in no condition to go anywhere."

"I don't want to have to ask the Major to carry me, so I'll just stay here. We're leaving for Central as soon as the automail's finished, right?" Al asked. "You shouldn't miss this opportunity to go pay your respects."

Ed was silent for a while. "You're right…" He got up, stretching. "I guess I'll go over there for a little bit." With that, he walked off, waving behind him. Den got up and ran after him. "I'll be back soon."

I stood up as well, looking at Nina. Since we had time to burn… "Okay, then. What do you want to play?"

* * *

**A/N: As always, reviews are loved! We'll try to start on the next chapter today! Ciao!**


	30. Chapter 27

**A/N: Here ya go! :3 We're trying to write so many things at once, which isn't a good idea...just finished this...**

**Mati: That, and we really want to post a lot before school starts for us. *shudder* Gonna be freshmen... QAQ**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Lina? Are you okay?"

I choked down the scream that was still threatening to escape as I whipped my head around to face a dark form. His red eyes, terrifying for any normal person, was comforting to see. I could already feel my breath becoming less frantic and my heart slowing down.

I managed a small smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just-" I let out a shaky breath. "Just a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it? It seemed worse than usual." Al knew about my nightmares. Of course, it would be hard to hide it from him when he was always awake to see me wake up from them.

I usually didn't tell him, but…

I sighed. "It was my mother."

"Your mother?" I could feel his surprise. "If it was your mother, why was it a nightmare?"

I gave a dry laugh. "Unfortunately, Al, I didn't have the kind of mother you and Ed did." I lay back down on my bed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to choose my next words.

"Mom...didn't even like me."

I could just feel the surprise coming from him. "What?! What kind of mother doesn't like their child?!"

"Mine." I sighed. "Al, I'm basically the result of two idiots who didn't know how to work a condom."

"...I'm not sure if I should feel bad about that sentence or laugh at it."

I gave another small laugh. "Well, I could have phrased that more gracefully. My point being...I just got a particularly bad dream about my mom this time."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah." There was silence for a second before I spoke again. "Thanks for the concern, though."

"Hey. You're my friend, y'know? And...I know it took a lot to tell me about your mother. Thank you."

Maybe we trusted each other more than I thought.

Feeling a little better, I closed my eyes and tried to fall back asleep. _Don't remember the dream…_

_Don't remember killing her…_

* * *

The rest of the three days passed by uneventfully, which was slightly surprising. Ed got his new arm and leg attached, and we were gone. It only occurred to me on the train that I should have told Winry about the missing bolt in Ed's arm. Whoops.

At long last, we arrived in Central. Ed and Al rushed off, while I took my time and made sure I had everything.

Ross and Brosh were waiting for us at the station. They saluted when they saw us coming.

Ross spoke up first. "Major Armstrong, we've come here to escort you."

He nodded at them. "Thank you, Second Lieutenant Ross. And you as well, Sergeant Brosh."

Brosh gave a small exclamation. "And this must be the Fullmetal Alchemist?" As usual, they turned to Al.

Ross saluted again. "My name is Maria Ross. It's an honour to meet you, sir!"

"Denny Brosh, reporting, sir. I can see where you got your nickname! Very dignified!"

I stifled a snicker. Ed twitched beside me. Nina made the small huffing noise that was her laugh now. Al pointed to his brother.

"Hm…?"

"The little guy over there...?"

I began laughing hysterically, using Armstrong as a support so that I didn't topple to the ground. Ed had to be restrained while Ross and Brosh stammered out quick apologies.

"A-and you are…?" Ross asked, still red from her mistake.

"Ah…" I tried to gain enough breath to talk. "I'm...Angeline Morgan. Just...travel with them. Don't...have to...be formal…" I took a look at Ed's fuming face and burst into another round of laughter.

After a long time, Ed finally calmed down. Armstrong left us (but not before giving both me and Ed a bone-crushing hug), and we headed off to the National Central Library. I let Nina sit on my lap during the car ride (ignoring the strange looks Ross and Brosh gave her) and tuned out the conversation between Ross, Brosh, and the Elrics, only interrupting once to come up with a more believable lie for Al's armour ("It's a hobby"...honestly).

Surprise, surprise. The library was burned down. I managed a horrified expression, if only because I was thinking of all the beautiful books that were lost.

_Damn._ Now that I thought of it...this library would have had books on Creta, maybe even on Cretan alchemy.

That was just great.

Then again...I could ask Sheska…

* * *

"Thank you for your time…"

Something was wrong. The librarians didn't say a word as we walked away. Weren't they going to mention Sheska...?

I sighed and made my move when we ended up on the steps of the library with nobody going out to get us. Seems like there were more variations in this universe…

"Hey, guys. We need to go back in there. I just remembered that I have a question."

Ed gave me an odd look, but turned around and followed me back in.

"What is it?" Al asked. I shook my head and kept going.

The woman at the desk looked up. "Back again?"

"Yeah." I gave her a smile. "I just remembered something. My older sister had a friend here, but lost contact with her. Since I was here, I offered to go and say hi to her. It was...Sheska, I believe? Last we heard from her, she was working here."

"Oh, Sheska? She was a nice girl. She doesn't work here anymore, but do you want her address?"

* * *

"...Do you really have an older sister?"

I smirked, fingering the small piece of paper. "Nope."

"Then how'd you…"

"Don't question me, Al. Don't you know never to look a gift horse in the mouth?"


	31. Chapter 28

**A/N: Angie: *trembling* We start Freshman year in two days...**

**Mati: We'll be fine... *doesn't sound convincing***

**Piper: Let's just work on the next chapter...**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Just like with Tucker's house, I was just amazed by the size of things. I loved the manga, but compared to the real thing, it couldn't show me enough how big or small or colourful things were.

There were mountains of books. Almost literally mountains. I could actually see columns that reached the ceiling.

It was simply breathtaking.

Well, except for that slightly wiggling mound of books in the corner. It looked so disorganised.

So, so...

...Wait...

...Slightly…

...Wiggling…

"There's someone under there!" Al exclaimed just as I put two and two together. Everyone's eyes widened, including mine.

"Dig! Dig!" Someone shouted as we rushed to the rescue.

* * *

"Ah, I'm so sorry! I accidentally tripped over a mountain of books... I thought I was going to die under there. Thank you so much!"

We were all exhausted from pulling the books off of Sheska. Man, those books were _heavy_.

"You're welcome…" Ed wheezed.

"Are you Sheska?" Al asked. She gave a nod and a smile.

"Yes, I'm Sheska. As you can tell, I really love books, so I was ecstatic when I got a job at the library!" The light in her eyes dimmed slightly as she continued to speak. "But, uh...because I loved to read so much...I forgot I was working most of the time and ended up reading. That's how I got fired." Tears began forming in her eyes, and her voice started to falter. "I-I need to w-work hard so I can put my sick mother in a better hospital, b-but...I-I'm no good at anything but reading, s-so no matter where I go, I can never keep a job." She began sobbing now, covering her face in my hands. "It's true. I'm the most useless person in the world! The scum of society!"

I felt so bad for her, but I didn't know what to say or do. Neither did the others, apparently, because we just kind of stood there awkwardly until her sobs slowly subsided.

Finally, Sheska raised her head, eyes still watery. "I'm sorry…" She gave a sniff. "I'm good now…"

_Oh, to hell with this._ I kneeled down next to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey. Sheska. It's okay...You're not the scum of society. In fact...after you do us a favour, I can get you a job. A good one, that pays well."

She looked at me. "R-really?"

I gave her a smile. "Yeah. Really."

She wiped her eyes a bit, then gave me a determined look. "Okay. What do you need?"

Al tried to speak up, but I turned and shook my head. "I'll deal with this. We need..." _Now, what was the name…?_ "We need 101 Recipes for Daily Living by Tim Marcoh. Or something like that…" I could feel the others giving me strange looks, but I ignored them. Nina got closer to me, hiding her face so that Sheska wouldn't be freaked out. It was painful to know that she'd already learned to hide herself.

"You mean 1000 Meals for Daily Living?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that one. It was burned in the fire. Maybe you read it and can write it out for us…?"

Sheska furrowed her brow, trying to recall the book.

"How would a cookbook help us?" Brosh asked.

"Alchemists keep their notes safe by writing them in code." Al explained.

Ed snorted. "Lina, how do you expect her to know what books she's read? And how would she be able to-"

Sheska interrupted him with a nod, a small smile on her face. "Yes, I read it. Someone had filed them incorrectly, so I remember them quite well! I can transcribe the entire thing for you!"

I could just feel everyone's jaw drop behind me. I gave Sheska a smile of my own. "That'd be great! We'll pay you for your help! Thank you so much!"

The others were still giving me odd looks as we left Sheska's house. I could hear Brosh whisper to Ross, "Who is she?!"

I laughed and answered them, not looking behind me. "I'm just a companion of the Elrics. Nothing special."

_Now, to make a call..._

* * *

Five days later, we were back at Sheska's, staring at the mound of papers in front of us. I suddenly had a lot more respect for her. There was a lot.

"She did it...she actually did it…" Al murmured, amazed.

"There truly are amazing people in the world…" Ed whispered, as stunned as his brother.

Ross picked up one of the packets and flipped through it. "These really are recipies…"

I laughed. "I doubt you want to make these recipes, though."

"Are these really notes in code?" Brosh asked. I nodded at him, then turned to Sheska. "Hey, after you get your payment, come visit us. I'll get your new employer. Or he'll come on his own. Wasn't too specific about it." She gaped at me, then gave me a quick bow that I waved off.

Ed grinned. "Lina, I don't know how you knew how to get these, but I love you right now." He wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Ross along with his watch. "Sheska's payment. Just go to the State Alchemist office, withdraw this amount, and give it to her." He grabbed a stack of papers and nodded to me and Al. "Come on. We can decipher these at the library. They have a lot of good books for reference."

I blinked at him, then picked up a stack and followed him, albeit a bit shakily.

_Lina, I don't know how you knew how to get these, but I love you right now._

He hadn't meant it...it was just a figure of speech…

Right...?


	32. Chapter 29

**A/N: Can't talk much; I'm in school. Anyways. To celebrate getting 100 reviews, we'll do any writing request that people review with. As long as we know the fandom. Anyways...here!**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A few days later, and I was sprawled on the table, papers scattered all around me. Did Marcoh really have to make this so hard?! This was seriously impossible to solve! Next to me, Al and Ed were slouching as well. Nina was sleeping on the floor.

I started to contemplate just saying the answer when I heard a knock on the old oak door of the room. It slowly opened, revealing Sheska. The young woman was wearing a nice skirt and cardigan today.

She bowed as she got near. "H-hello! I just wanted to thank you! Thanks to your money, Mr. Edward, I was able to get my mother to a better hospital!"

He waved her off. "Ah, it's nothing. This was definitely worth the money."

She stole a look at the papers. "I'm assuming they're more than just recipes, then?"

Al nodded.

"How has it been going so far?"

All three of us groaned. I put my head back on the table.

It shot back up when I remembered my promise. "Oh, yes! The job! You're here for the job, right?"

A tentative nod.

"Right." I looked at a clock hanging above the door. "I know he's coming really-"

The door opened, and Hughes walked in. "Yo!" Nina lazily stirred and raised her head to see who it was, then put her head back down and went to sleep.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!"

I gave a grin and a wave. "Hey, Hughes."

He looked at the mess of papers scattered on and around the table. "Jeez, you guys. Have you even been sleeping or eating?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Hughes, we can take care of ourselves. You're not our-" I cut myself off as I thought about what I was about to say, then sighed. "Nice try. I'm not saying it, though."

"Ah, at least I tried." He gave me a grin. "Anyways...you wanted me?"

"Oh, yeah!" I motioned to Sheska. "This is who I was talking about. Like I said, she has a photographic memory, and she's read most of the military records, I think."

He moved closer to her. "Really..." He gave a grin. "This is great! She can really help us out! Thanks, Lina!"

I grinned.

He turned to her and grabbed her arm, beginning to drag her away. "Let's start on the paperwork! I'll give you a great salary!"

I watched them leave with amusement, then jerked as I remembered something. "Ah, guys..." Ed and Al looked up. "I need to do something. Be back soon." I pushed my seat back and hurriedly stood up, racing after me. Nina got up and followed me.

"Where are...you going?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Need to ask for something." I raised my voice and and called out. "Hey, wait! Sheska!" Both Sheska and Hughes stopped and turned around.

"Hey, uh...Could you actually do a favour for me? I need a books on Creta and Cretan alchemy. Do you know any...?"

She nodded slowly, face thoughtful. "Yes, I believe so...If I remember correctly, it was called The Chimera Country. It was the only book on Creta, though. If it could be called a book. It was really only a bunch of papers stuffed in the back of one of the bookcases..."

The chimera country...? And it wasn't even a book?

Hughes looked thoughtful as well. "I can ask around, but...I find it odd that the entire main branch of the library didn't have a single book on Creta."

Now that he mentioned it...it was very odd. And very suspicious.

Maybe it was best for Hughes to not poke his head into this particular business. "No, that's okay. Could you just write out The Chimera Country for me, please?"

She nodded. "Of course! Consider this my thank-you!" She started to leave again, but something bothered me.

"Sheska! Before you go, I have a question. What happened when you found the, uh, manuscript?"

She turned once more. "The Chimera Country? Well, it looked interesting, so I took it home and read it. After that, I turned it into the main branch." Her face looked pensive. "Now that you mention it...my boss looked kind of pale when he saw it. He muttered something. I don't know what, but I heard the words 'orders' and 'thought we got them all'." She waved, and she and Hughes left, Hughes telling me to come 'home' tonight. I waved back, then stood there for a while.

It was obvious that the government didn't want Amestrians knowing about Creta or their alchemy, Alkemirastry. But why...? Was it like Alkhastry?

I was determined to find out.

* * *

Al and Ed decided to stay at the library overnight, which left me alone in the hotel room. That was fine by me, honestly. I didn't get much privacy usually, and this was a nice change.

I set my blue cloak (of course, not the original; I'd long outgrown it) on the couch then headed to my room, closing the door behind me. For a second, I leaned against the door, rubbing my necklace. Maybe I should have just told Ed and Al the truth...

I sighed and pushed myself off of the door. No, it wouldn't have helped. No use thinking about it now, anyways. Now... I went to my suitcase and opened it, rummaging through the contents. Spare clothes, my MP3 player...

At the bottom of my suitcase was a small leather journal. I'd bought it years ago under the pretense of starting a diary. Amazingly enough, Ed and Al had believed me.

I opened it up to the first page and started going down the list on it. Mom dies, Izumi Curtis, Human Trans. Age 11, State Alchemist Age 12, Cornello 15, Train, Tucker, Scar, Resembool/Marcoh... I checked everything on the list up to Sheska/Fifth Lab, circling Fifth Lab. Right below Izumi reunion, I made a line, writing near it, Maybe to Creta after this? There was a note near Greed that said Save? that was crossed out a long time ago. Once I was done with updating the list, I flipped through my death descriptions, making sure I checked off the ones already dead and updated the one that had changed. I hesitated a bit at Hughes' page, but flipped past it quickly.

Finally satisfied with my journal, I shut my notebook and hid it in my suitcase again.

My sleep was dreamless for once.

* * *

**A/N: Angie: Sorry, fixed this and added the italics/underlines that're supposed to be here.**

**Mati: Like we said...review with a story idea you want to see, and we'll try to write it!**

**Piper: We'll post any requests that we get on Behind the Scenes. We'll also tell you in the next AN for next chapter if we actually get and write any.**


	33. Chapter 30

**A/N: Guess who's alive?! :DDD**

**Piper: And back with chapter 30. *grins***

**Mati: Wow, can you believe that we've gotten this far?! It's amazing!**

**Piper: A bit less amazing that we're only about a tenth of the way done.**

**Lina: Party pooper. Anyways, here you go, guys! Chapter 30! Also, we're putting up one of the requests onto the companion story, Behind the Scenes! The Utterly Fabulous Z's "Reverse Sick Day" will be up there as soon as we post this! Also...8ofhearts, we need to PM you for more details about your request. We have ****no**** idea what to write...**

**Mati: Well, hope you enjoy~**

**Piper: Oh, wait. Forgot something.**

**Lina: Oh...yeah. So, we realised that with my name being so close to little miss OCs...I may change my name. The collective name for us will remain Angeline Morgan, but...my name specifically has to go. What do you think of Erika or Lilli?**

**Piper: Now you are excused to read.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty

"I'm heading out, you guys." I got my coat on and waved goodbye to the Elric brothers (Nina had stayed at the hotel) before closing the door and heading out of the library. It was a cold day, and I shivered a bit, wrapping my coat a bit tighter around me.

Sheska had finally written out The Chimera Country, and I couldn't wait to see what was in it. I had agreed to go pick it up at her house. Not that I minded too much; her house with all of its books was simply amazing.

She opened the door on the third knock. "Ah, Ms. Angeline! Please, come in! Here, the manuscript's on the table!"

I gave a small laugh and followed her in, narrowly dodging a column of books. "Sheska, you don't need the Ms. in front of my name. I'm younger than you; if anything, I should be the one calling you Ms. Sheska. Please, just call me Angeline or Angie."

"Angeline, then!" She picked up a stack of papers, held together by nothing but a paper clip, and handed it to me. "Here you go! The Chimera Country!"

I held the stack of papers gingerly. Who knew what kind of secrets it held…? "Thank you so much, Sheska. Do you need any payment or anything?"

"What you and Mr. Edward have given me is enough. Plus, you got me an excellent job!"

"Ah, speaking of which! How do you like your job?"

"It's a good job, well paying. Mr. Hughes is a good employer. Oh, yes…he told me to tell you that 'Daddy and Mommy want you to come for dinner tonight'..."

_...Damn it, Hughes._ "All right. Thank you for passing the message to me."

"Of course. I hope that you find the book interesting!"

I said goodbye to Sheska and began the walk back to the library, clutching the papers close to me. The sun was just beginning to set, which meant that the library was going to close fairly soon. Maybe when we got back to the hotel and Ed fell asleep, I could take a look at the manuscript. It could explain some things that the manga never talked about. After all, Creta was barely mentioned. I was walking blind regarding the country.

_Daddy and Mommy want you to come for dinner tonight._ I could just imagine Hughes saying it in a sweet, aren't-you-so-cute kind of voice as he gave me a hug. Honestly. He was too nice sometimes...

Well, I hadn't really been able to spend time with them this trip. It would be nice to see Elysia again, too. Maybe I should go, after all.

I got into the library and opened the door to the room Ed and Al were in just in time to hear Ed say, "The main ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone...is a living human being!"

...Scratch that.

* * *

Ross and Brosh looked vaguely nauseated by the truth. Understandable, really; human souls weren't something you used in everyday recipes. _In a large mixing bowl, mix together three cups of flour, one egg, a stick of butter, and two human souls._

"Not only that," Ed continued, face grim, "but it would take numerous human sacrifices to create one stone!"

"I-I never imagined that something so inhumane was being conducted by the military…" Brosh said, voice shaky.

"We can't allow this to go unpunished!" Ross exclaimed.

"Second Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh…" I spoke up, catching everyone's attention. Obviously, they hadn't noticed me come in. Of course, learning the truth about the Philosopher's Stone was bound to attract more attention than little old me. "You can't tell a soul about this." _It's not like those who deserve to know won't find out eventually._

"Lina." Edward looked at me, eyes hard amber. "You knew about this, didn't you."

I gave a nod.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" He asked, standing up. His body shook with restrained anger.

_Because…_ "Because you had to find out by yourself." I said simply. "It wouldn't have the same effect if I had told you, would it?"

"That's not the point! You knew about this-this monstrosity, and you let us hope that we could use this as an option?! How could you?!"

"Brother…" Al tried to cut in, but Ed ignored him.

"Why?! We let ourselves hope-let ourselves believe-and you let us!"

The guilt hit me like a truck. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I refused to cry, refused to show weakness.

"Because I was scared of what would happen if I changed it too much."

"Changed what?"

"I…" _Deep breaths, Lina…_ "I'm sorry…but there is a hope. Please, believe me. There's more to this than just the Stone. I…the Stone is important. Please, I…" A knot formed in my throat. My vision went blurry. "I'm sorry. I know you won't trust me after this. I don't expect you to…but you have to believe me, we're on the same side."

"Then tell me the truth. The whole truth." Edward's voice was cold, harsh.

"...I can't do that. Not now."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because I'm scared!" The words flew out of me. "Because I'm scared that they're going to hear, and all of my knowledge-all of my secret-keeping and attempts to make sure everything turns out right-will be for nothing!" _I'm scared and I'm trying to protect you and Al as much as I can._

"They?"

"Yes, they!" I gave a frustrated sigh and sat on the floor in a huff. "I can't explain, not right now. Again, when we see Teacher…"

Edward gave a sigh of his own. His anger seemed to be spent. "Lina...I want to believe you, I really do...I want to trust you…"

A tear escaped, and I quickly wiped it away.

He maneuvered around the fallen papers and sat down next to me, not quite touching me. "What can you tell us, then…?"

"...I know where the Stones Marcoh made were created. And...after that, we're going to Teacher's." My voice seemed small. "I can't check out the laboratory they were made at with you-it's too dangerous-" _That, and I might expose myself when I see Envy…_ "But...you do have to go. It's important."

"...Okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you these things. I really am. And...I wasn't lying when I told you that you'll get your bodies back. If this goes back, you will."

A bit more of the tension left him. "Thank you for telling me. Don't be fooled, though; I'm still mad at you. You're going to have to earn my trust back." He got up and offered me a hand. "Now...about the laboratory…?"


	34. Chapter 31

**A/N: So, we finally managed to finish the next chapter! Sorry it took so long...**

**Piper: We would have posted it on our birthday (which is Sunday), but we decided that we'd be too busy on Sunday. That, and we've been putting this off long enough.**

**Mati: In other news, we've gotten into Undertale, Sherlock, and Hamilton. We didn't mean to, but we did. Fandoms, man...**

**Piper: Also...we've decided. This story will, unfortunately, be ending soon.**

**Lilli: Why? For the sole reason that if we continue this, it's going to end up being around 100 chapters and 300 pages. Ergo, this story will end after returning to Dublith and a sequel (and possibly a triquel) will be started soon (?) after. The name of the sequel isn't really chosen yet, but we're thinking of something like ****Burning Bright****. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?**

**Piper: On that note, let's get closer to the end, hm? Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

The day progressed as usual, with Armstrong vandalising our hotel room door. It was a bit awkward, though. Nobody knew what to say, so besides talking to Armstrong about the laboratory, the room was full of awkward silence. In the end, I decided to go to Hughes' house after all. There wasn't any reason for me not to; it would be awkward for me to stay near Ed right now, especially considering the recent events. The best option was to give each other space so that we could clear our minds. I handed a note to Ross and Brosh before I headed out, telling them to read it only when they decided to go to Laboratory Five. _(Al is outside, fighting someone. Don't worry about Ed. Ross, please try not to shoot. Call me when the lab is gone. xxx-xxx-xxxx)_ Nina had decided to stay at the hotel. I told her to not give away where Ed and Al were going until Ross and Brosh realised they were gone.

Hughes opened the door with a huge grin and a hug. "Hey, stranger! How have you been? Have you been eating well? What's new with the boys?"

I looked up at him and couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. "Everything's fine. We're all good." I could always tell him later, when we were alone.

"...Hm." _Oh, right. I can't lie to him._

"Ah…Right. Sorry..." I looked away. "I'll tell you later. Promise."

He gave a nod and his grin reappeared, albeit a bit worried. "All right. Well! Gracia just finished making dinner!" A chuckle. "I see that you got my message?"

I gave an annoyed scowl. "Unfortunately. Did you have to refer to you and Gracia as my parents?"

All I got in response was a laugh. "Just come in already! We're all waiting for you!"

* * *

Just after dinner, I heard a loud _BOOM!_ Everything shook, and I stumbled. Elysia fell towards me and I hugged her close, making sure that nothing fell on her.

And then it was all over. Everything was silent. I checked over Elysia who was, thankfully, unscathed.

"...What was that?!" Hughes exclaimed.

"I...think I know what that was…" I looked at him. "Here, can I talk to you?"

He nodded, but the phone rang before we could find a place to talk. Gracia went to pick it up. She returned with the phone and a small phone. "Lina, it's for you. Whoever's on the other line sounds a bit worried."

"Oh, jeez. Yeah, I need to take that." I gave a grimace and took the phone. "Hello?"

"This is Ross. We're in the hospital."

I went on high alert. "Details?"

"Al's fine. Ed, though…"

"Ed?" _Oh, god, please tell me that something didn't go wrong…Please tell me that something didn't change..._

"He's...beaten up, but he's alive."

_Alive._ I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. _He's alive._ "I'll head out right now."

I hung up and turned to Gracia and Hughes. "Something came up; I think it's related to the explosion. I'm so sorry…"

Gracia waved me off. "No, don't worry. We don't mind at all. Just do what you need to, okay?"

"You can come back when you've dealt with your business," Hughes grinned. "Now, shoo!"

Elysia gave me a last hug before I rushed off.

* * *

Ed looked worse than I thought he would. Every part of his body that I could see was covered in scrapes, cuts, and bruises. His automail arm was in a sling. Brosh and Ross were standing near his bedside. Both looked like they'd died of relief. I snickered, but didn't say a thing. Instead, I walked up to Ed's bed.

"Jeez...look at you…" I pulled up a chair and sat down. "You were reckless with the Slicer brothers, huh…?"

Ed huffed and ignored me, turning back to the soldiers. "I didn't take the state alchemist test for the rank. There's no need to be so polite. I'm just a 'child', right?"

The adults immediately relaxed more, acting less like the soldiers they were supposed to be. It was honestly a relief. Having older people act so...respectful...was weird to see.

"No joke?" Ross asked.

Brosh gave a relieved laugh. "What a relief! You don't know how hard it was for me to be so polite to someone younger than me!"

Ed had a weird look on his face. I stifled a laugh.

After a second, Ed shook his head and looked away. "By the way, where's Al?"

Brosh gave a small cough, regaining some of his composure. "I punched him and gave him the same lecture that we gave to you." He winced, and I saw him shake his right hand behind his back. "Nearly broke my hand in the process, though."

Ed began to laugh, wincing a bit. "He's got a pretty hard head, huh?" The laughs soon faded away, though, leaving him looking slightly nervous. "Oh, jeez...I just remembered. There's one more thing that I'm going to get yelled at for."

"Good luck with that," I told him with a smirk, leaning against one of the closed doors.

"Shut up. You do not get to mock me before I get murdered."

"Oh, please. She's not going to murder you. Sure, she might maul you, but…"

"Not helping. At all."

* * *

The next day, I explored the hospital while Ed went to break the news to Winry. It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing. Flowers were blooming. On days like these, we really should have been outside enjoying. Unfortunately, that was hard to do with the Elrics. Honestly; it felt like I rarely got a break with them.

I was heading back when I spotted Al sitting on a bench in the dark. He wasn't moving at all, most likely lost in thought.

I sat down next to him, trying to give him a grin. He didn't look my way. "Hey."

His voice was quiet when he finally replied. "You know things, don't you? Things that people normally wouldn't know."

"You could say that. I'm not omniscient, though."

"What do you know?"

I gave a small sigh. _Should I really be telling him this? It might change some-_ I shook my head. _What the hell am I thinking?! Am I seriously considering putting them through troubles for the sole purpose of keeping to the story?! Jesus… Just tell him, Lina… _"I know more than I should about you, Ed, and the people around you."

"Then you knew that I was created?"

_...I can't do this. I can't lie to them any longer. Screw the story, screw the canon. I'm making my own story, and this is my next step._ "I know what you were told, and it's complete bullshit. You were not created."

As expected, his head whipped around to look at me. "What?"

"Honestly, why would you believe a murderer, especially Barry the Chopper? Al, you are not a creation. You were most definitely once flesh and blood, and your soul is definitely that of Alphonse Elric, the brother of Edward Elric."

"But-"

"I'm not lying to you. Besides, why would Ed go through all of the pain and suffering he did just to create a fake brother?"

"But-"

"For God's sake, Al, ask him yourself. I'm not a bloody fortune-teller, and I'm definitely not going to hand all of the answers to you on a silver platter. If it's bothering you that Ed has something that he's hesitant to tell you, go and confront him. You can even talk privately on the roof."

"...Why won't you tell us everything?"

There was a pause before I answered. "Because it's dangerous to know too much. I have to live with all these secrets; I don't need you guys to join me." With a sigh, I got up and began walking away. "I can only tell you so much, and that'll have to wait a bit longer. It's not safe to tell you here." _I only hope that it's safe to tell you in Dublith..._


	35. Chapter 32

**A/N: And we're back~**

**Piper: *sheepish laugh* Uh...sorry for being so late. Again. We, uh...actually had a lot of this chapter-**

**Mati: Like...90% of it?**

**Piper: -But we, uh...forgot to write the end.**

**Lilli: For...about a few weeks. Maybe a month...?**

**All three: ...**

**Mati: Sorry?**

**Lilli: Anyways...here's the next chapter. As you all know, ****A Brighter Flame, Another Hope**** ends soon. The next story...**

**Piper: ...That we don't have a name for yet...**

**Lilli: *cough* Yeah, that'll be started soon after. Hopefully.**

**Mati: So...enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two

I had fully intended to go to Hughes' house to sleep, but in the end I decided to just go back to the hotel where Nina was waiting. I had already told Hughes about what had happened the night I rushed off to the hospital and he knew that I might choose to stay at the hotel. He was smart enough; he'd know where I was if I didn't go 'home'. Besides, if he wanted to, he could call the hotel and check up on me.

I had not yet brought Nina to the Hughes household. Part of the reason was because I hadn't gotten around to it; part of it was out of concern for Nina. I wasn't too sure how they'd react to her, and I didn't want her feeling hurt. I suppose that even with everything that had happened, I was still trying to be a big sister to her.

I knew something was off the minute I opened the door. There was just...something, some feeling that immediately put me on-guard.

A familiar figure stepped into my line of sight, and I relaxed, giving a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I was worried you were some bad guy. Be thankful that I didn't try to explode the room or something."

"Gee, thanks," Mustang said, arms crossed casually and eyebrow raised. "Why so trigger-happy?"

"Well, I do live with people who are almost always in trouble with someone." I leaned against the side of the doorway. "So, what's up? And where's Nina?" None of the lights in the room were turned on, so I couldn't really see anyone besides Mustang.

Actually…"Why the hell are you in the dark, anyways? The light switch is right here," I asked, pointing to said light switch.

He gave a small laugh. "I, uh, didn't want to draw attention to myself, and I figured that turning on the lights of a room that was supposed to be unoccupied might raise suspicion. Anyways…" His face turned serious. "I came to check in. It seems like a lot of events are suddenly happening at once. Is something happening…?"

Any amusement that I had evaporated. "Right. We need to talk…"

* * *

As it always was when we had to talk about things like this, Mustang's face was grim. "So, it's finally starting."

I nodded. "We're near the beginning of it all. I suggest that you stay on guard. I honestly don't know if anything's changed, but I do know the basics of most of the events." I gave a small sigh and rubbed my face a little. "God, I feel like some kind of freaking psychic or something. Sometimes I really hate knowing all of this…"

"And Hughes?"

_And there are times I hate it much less._ "Yeah. It's soon. And I actually have an idea. I'll need your help, of course."

"Of course. What are you thinking of?"

"Something that's really risky-"

"When are your plans never risky?"

"Oh, shut up. It's risky, and we may have to practise, but we can do it. Theoretically."

"Is there any other option?"

"...No, not really."

"Then we have to try. So? What do you need?"

"A safehouse and everything from this list. I'll try to figure out the location."

He read over my list, and his brow furrowed. "These proportions...You don't seriously mean to…"

"Not in the way you're thinking. My plan isn't that illegal."

"Then as a…?"

"Mmhm."

"Clever...How will you use it, though? You need to be a safe way away to pull it off."

"I, ah...have some special alchemy." He raised an eyebrow. "No, I've never shown anyone. I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that I use normal alchemy or none at all."

"I didn't even know that you used alchemy."

"Please. Why else would I train with Izumi Curtis? Besides to also learn how to fight. Anyways...I think that I can do it. We'll need you to 'speak' for Hughes, though. Unless he can do it himself. Honestly, I'd prefer that he speaks, but if you can imitate him well enough, that'll work."

"So is that it?"

"Hopefully. Can you do your part? I'll try to work on mine."

"Easy enough. I'll get the supplies."

"Thank you." _Now...to see if I can do more with my alchemy besides cut._

* * *

I entered my bedroom to find Nina sleeping on the bed. She stirred and opened one eye to look at me as I closed the door. "Big...Sister…?"

I gave a hum of affirmation. "Sorry for coming in so late."

"Is Big Brother okay…?"

"Yeah, he's recovering well. He should be let out in a few days."

I was nearly changed into my sleeping clothes when she spoke up again. "Big Sister...do you like Big Brother?"

I nearly had a heart attack. "Wh-what? What makes you think that? No, of course not! I mean, I like him, but not like that, if that's what you're talking about. I mean, he doesn't like me like that. Not that that matters, but...I mean...he's just my friend! That's it!"

Nina had an amused look on her face. "So...you like him…?"

"No! I just said no!"

The amused look slightly faded. "Big Sister...what's it like...to like someone?"

"I…" I gave a sigh. "I wouldn't know. It's...I don't do emotions well."

"...Will anyone like me?" Nina laid her head between her legs. "I'm a monster…"

I sat down next to her and gently began to rub her back. "Nina...of course you will. You're not a monster. I'll find a way to help you. I promise." _I promise…_

I fell asleep on her, an arm still on her back.


	36. Chapter 33

**A/N: Heya, guys~ We're back with our next chapter~**

**Mati: And we also have a request! And a contest! :D**

**Piper: We, uh, really want a new cover for ****A Brighter Flame, Another Hope****. Like, really really. If someone could make one and tell us, that'd be great. We'll give them our email and let them send it to us. Please and thank you.**

**Lilli: As for the contest~ As you all know, this will end soon and a sequel will begin. So, here's our contest! Contact (review, PM, etc.) us and give us title ideas! If you win, we'll let you include yourself in the sequel~**

**Mati: Um...I think that's all for now. Enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

"OH MY GOD!"

Winry nearly dropped her bag of equipment as she took in the sight of Ed. Armstrong had decided to pay him a visit. The result had not been the best.

I spaced out as everyone began to talk, mostly about Ed's condition.

Silence. I tuned in. _Oh. Winry must have blamed herself. Ed's going to get flustered and freak out and try to make her feel better in 3, 2…_

"No, it's my fault. I was too rough on it." Ed shook his head. "Anyways, it helped me in the end." He gave her a grin. "Don't worry about it, all right?"

_That...wasn't what happened._ A weird feeling came over me. _That definitely didn't happen._

Winry's eyes lit up and she gave a slightly evil smile. "You're right! It's not my fault! Okay then, let's talk about my fee for coming out here to make repairs!"

I tried to not laugh at Ed's face.

* * *

I decided to take yet another walk while Winry made repairs on Ed's arm. I left them arguing about Ed drinking his milk.

I sat criss-cross on the grass outside of the hospital with my eyes closed, letting the sun shine on my face. It felt good and I felt calm.

"_I'm a monster…"_

So much for feeling calm. I gave a sigh and opened my eyes again. I couldn't get my mind off of what Nina had said. It made me feel immensely guilty. Was there a way to help her? I hoped so.

But how…? There was no alchemy that I knew of in this country that would help. Had I just made Nina an empty promise…?

A shadow covered the sun, derailing my line of thought. I looked up to see Hughes smiling down at me.

"Hey, there. Having a nice nap?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I was until a overbearing dad decided to cover the sun."

I regretted my choice of words immediately when he smirked. "Oh? A dad?"

"No."

"Dad, huh?"

"Hughes, no."

"So you finally admit it~"

"We are not having this conversation right now."

He laughed and sat down next to me. We sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"I don't mind, you know." I looked over to see him smiling gently. "You know Gracia and I would love to be your family." He quickly leaned over and gave me a one-armed hug.

I leaned into the hug a bit. "You know I'd love to be part of your family…"

"...But you need time, I understand." He gave a small sigh, then grinned again, beginning to stand up. "So? Let's go check up on Ed, hm?"

I gave a grin of my own and began to stand up as well.

* * *

"Hey, Ed! Heard you got your ass kicked again!"

Ed and Winry looked up from their fighting to stare at Hughes. "Oh." Ed sounded a bit disgruntled. "It's you."

Hughes gave a small pout. "Rude. And I was just looking out for you…" He pulled up a chair and sat down. I decided to just lean against a wall. "So, what was it this time? A serial killer? A maniac with a chainsaw? A cannibal? A gay stripper who you cheated? Oh, by the way," he turned to Winry and they shook hands, "Maes Hughes. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Winry Rockbell."

Ed scowled. "That was one time, and I wasn't even the right person! He thought I was someone else!"

Winry raised an eyebrow. "What about gay strippers?"

I tried not to laugh at the thought. "It's...a long story."

"Do I…?"

"No."

Winry, thankfully, didn't push the issue.

"So? What happened?"

"Ah...just a minor fight. Nothing serious. Why are you even here, anyways? Isn't there some work you should be doing…?"

Hughes chuckled. "I got the afternoon off!"

Ed gave a skeptical look. "I thought you said that the Investigations Division has been so busy lately that you can't get time off?"

"Not to worry! I just made Sheska work overtime!"

Al voiced everyone's thoughts. "You are an evil, evil man."

"I have another reason to drop by, actually. I just got some news about the Scar Incident. Your bodyguards are going to be dismissed soon."

Ed immediately brightened up. "Really?! All right! I can finally get these annoying chaperones off my back!"

"Hey! That's harsh." Brosh protested.

"What do you think would've happened to you if we hadn't been around?" Ross asked.

"Huh?" Winry looked confused, then annoyed. Her glare turned to Al, Ed and me. "Bodyguards...? What kind of trouble have you guys been getting into?!"

I felt a bit pale. "U-uh, it's nothing big! Promise!"

"Don't worry, I've been trying to keep them as safe as possible." Al reassured her, earning himself a glare from the two of us.

Winry gave an annoyed sigh. "Of course. Why did I believe that you guys would tell me anything…?" She started to gather up her equipment. "Well...I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow. I have to go find a place to stay for the night."

"You can stay at the military hotel for the night for cheap if Ed tells them about you." Al suggested. Winry shook her head.

"You can stay with my family!" Hughes suggested. His gaze turned to me. "You too. Elysia really wants you to come."

Right, Elysia's birthday party. I mentally smacked myself. _How could I forget this year?_ _I haven't even gotten her anything!_

"What's wrong?" Al asked me. Hughes turned to look at my panicked face and snorted, no doubt knowing the reason for my worry.

"Are you sure that's okay, Mr. Hughes?" Winry asked. "I don't want to intrude…"

"Ah, you'll be fine! Besides, you'll have Lina for company! Of course, we need to go to a few places first, but…"

Before either Winry or I could react, he grabbed our arms and began to drag us away, still happily chattering.

"Have fun!" Al called out to us.

Ed gave us a cheeky smile and a wave.

I gave a sigh and resigned myself to my fate.

* * *

**Edit (2/23/16): *looks up at a part that repeated itself* Wait, wtf?**

**Piper: Sorry, we'll fix that...**

**Mati: How did that happen...?**


	37. Chapter 34

**A/N: Aaand we're back with a chapter! :)**

**Mati: Hm, maybe we should try to make monthly updates...**

**Piper: Anyways. We got no title suggestions, so...the sequel might come a while after ****A Brighter Flame, Another Hope**** ends. :/ Sorry. And covers. Please.**

**Lilli: Nothing really new to report, so...enjoy.**

**Mati: And since we haven't done this in a while...**

**DISCLAIMER: WE OWN NOTHING. AT ALL.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

The party was loud and boisterous, much like the family itself. I recognised multiple family members in the crowd.

Elysia was in the middle of a group of her friends, laughing and playing. She looked so happy.

Hughes was in a corner, talking quietly to Winry. Winry looked thoughtful. I wondered what exactly they were talking about.

Someone sat down in a chair next to me, and I turned to see Gracia smiling gently at me. "Something on your mind? You seem distant."

I gave her a smile in return and shook my head. "No, no, I'm fine. Just...thinking."

"About?"

"Everything, honestly."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, still smiling. "No, it's all right."

"I'll give you your privacy, then." Gracia stood up and kissed the top of my head. "Will you be staying here tonight?"

"U-um…" I tried to ignore the weird feeling in my chest. "No, I think I have some things to do. I might come back here, but I'll be back really late."

"That's all right. Remember, you're always welcome. Here…" She rummaged in her pockets and produced a little bronze key. "Just use this if you decide to sleep here. We'll have the guest room ready."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I can-"

"Take it, love." Gracia gave me an amused smile.

I took the key, and she left. For a second I sat looking at it with a sense of...contentment? Happiness? I wasn't sure. I put it in my coat pocket, making sure that it wasn't going to fall out or anything. With a small sigh, I reached for my necklace and began rubbing it as I sat back in my chair and absentmindedly watched the partygoers.

They looked happy. I didn't know if I could say the same for myself.

* * *

I excused myself a few hours later slightly guiltily. Hughes and Gracia, bless them, were understanding and let me go with a smile and a wave. Winry didn't notice me leave, as she was distracted by a very enthusiastic Elysia talking about what she was learning in school. Elysia didn't stop me for the same reason.

I walked until I was far enough from their house then made my way to the nearest phone booth. _Let's see...what's his number again? I think that's it…_ I gave a small curse under my breath when an operator answered. "Hello, I need to talk to Colonel Mustang. Do I need some clearance…? Oh? Okay, thank you."

Cue hold music. I began rubbing my necklace again.

_Wise men say only fools rush in_

_But I can't help falling in love with you_

_Shall I stay, would it be a sin_

_If I can't help falling in love with you_

God, I hated hold music. This one sounded...familiar, though.

_Like a river flows surely to the sea_

_Darling, so it goes_

_Some things are meant to be_

The singer continued crooning, oblivious to my exasperation. It wasn't that he wasn't a good singer; it was just that _I had things to do, thank you very much._

_Take my hand, take my whole life too_

_For I can't help falling in love with-"_

The music cut short abruptly and I gave an internal sigh of relief. Hold music. Honestly.

"Colonel Mustang speaking."

"Hey, it's me." I tried to sound happy and tried to disguise it as subtly as possible. Luckily, he could probably figure out who I was, so I didn't have to risk saying my name. Call me paranoid, but it was getting too close to the Homunculus for comfort. I wasn't going to take any chances. "I think we were talking about doing something tonight?"

There was a pause. "Oh, Tori! I'm glad you finally got back to me, babe. Yeah, I think we arranged to meet. I was actually planning to head out right now. Where are you right now?"

_Babe? Seriously...?_ I tried not to cringe and kept my voice light. "Oh, I decided to visit my parents. I'm just outside their house right now."

"All right, I'll be right there."

"See you, Roy."

_Click._

I put the phone back and squeezed my eyes shut. _Roy Mustang, I swear to god…_ Nevertheless, I made my way back to the Hughes house and sat down on a curb.

His car rolled up soon, and I got in with a small sigh of relief. "Took you long enough. And 'babe'? Seriously?"

"Well, I had to make it convincing, 'Tori'. And your parents, huh?"

I rolled my eyes with a smirk and mimicked him. "Well, I had to make it convincing."

"So? What did you want?"

"Yeah, I was thinking...d'you think we can go pick up supplies and try practising for _that_?"

"Hm…" There was a pause as he thought. "We can probably pick up the supplies with no problems, and I think I know a place where we can practise."

"Great. Then let's get to work, shall we?"

* * *

It was nearly pitch black when I finally made my way back to the Hughes household, my only guide being the occasional rays of light provided by the streetlamps. I fumbled for the key at the door for a few moments, then managed to let myself in.

Hughes was sitting at the dining table with his back to me. Why was he up so late? I mean, I had a reason, but him?

"Everything all-"

_Wham!_ My back slammed against a nearby wall before I could blink and a letter opener materialised against my throat. Hughes glared at me, eyes devoid of emotion. He didn't seem to recognise me at all. I tried to struggle, but stopped when I felt the blade press harder against my throat.

"Hughes…" I managed to get out, gritting my teeth slightly. The pressure increased just a bit more, making it harder to breathe without fear of getting my throat slit. "Hughes, it's me. It's Lina. Jesus, Hughes, recognise me…"

Abruptly, recognition flashed through his eyes, and he let me go. I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath.

"Lina…? What are you doing here?"

"I…" I coughed. "I decided to come here for the night. Gracia let me."

He gave a small sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm glad you decided to stay. I'm sorry for attacking you."

I waved him off. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. I mean, I work with the Elrics. I just didn't want to attack back." There was a pause before I spoke again. "Was it Ishbal?"

He stiffened slightly, then gave a tired smile. "Unfortunately. It wasn't too bad, but it's best that I stay away from Gracia and Elysia when I wake up. You came at the wrong time."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault. It happened."

"Do you want some company?"

A shake of the head. "No, I think I'm okay now. Here, I'll walk upstairs with you."

We both made our way to our respective bedrooms with a slightly strained silence. I knew that he hadn't meant to attack me, but I still felt slightly wary. Getting attacked tended to put you on guard, no matter what the circumstances.

The words flew out of me as Hughes reached for the door to his bedroom. "How often do you think about Ishbal…?"

His hand stilled on the doorknob, and he froze a bit. A quiet response just barely managed to reach me. "All the time." He opened the door to his room without another word and closed it gently behind him.


	38. Chapter 35

**A/N: And here we are with our monthly updates! :)**

**Piper: Sorry that it's only monthly, by the way. It sucks for us as well.**

**Mati: Right now, we're honestly just trying to hold on until summer arrives...Although, we are going to Singapore, so that might not be much of a change. :/**

**Lilli: *groans* Gods, it's going to be so ****_hot_****...**

**Piper: Oh, stop complaining. It'll be nice.**

**Lilli: But ****_hot_****...**

**Mati: Anyways. That's us. Again, back to the story! We actually have a one-shot that we haven't published yet. With luck, we'll remember and post it soon! There are about...four or five chapters left, hopefully, including the epilogue. We'll have to see.**

**Lilli: Until then, enjoy this chapter! We'll be back with a new chapter next month! Hopefully!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. We don't own FMA. It's probably for the best, to be honest.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five

I woke up a lot later than I expected; the sun was shining brightly in the sky when I groggily opened my eyes. I gave a small groan and turned onto my side, not wanting to get up. It was too damn cold to get up yet. Nevertheless, I had to get my ass out of bed if I was going to make sure my plan could work. After all, I only had a few days left at most. That, of course, was the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario was that I had until tonight.

I slowly got up and got dressed as quietly as I could, grabbing my coat off of a nearby chair. On the way out the door, I paused to grab a bagel, biting into it with a small grimace. _Ugh, onions._ With my free hand, I opened the front door and walked out. The door closed with a small _snick_ behind me.

I finished off my bagel and dusted off my hands as I began to walk towards the nearest phone booth. If it wasn't the right one, I'd have to go...to the one on Marble Street, that was the closest. Then...the one on Ludwig Street, right? Ugh. This task would take a while.

_Time to get started._

* * *

_Nope._

_...Close, but nope._

_That's not even the right colour!_

_Is this it…? No, there aren't any trees. There were trees, right?_

After many, many, hours, I finally found what I was looking for. Or at least I hoped I did. It looked like how I remembered it; some woods behind it, a streetlamp nearby. It was close to the military offices, too, so that was a plus. A part of me protested that I barely remembered the location, so I could be totally wrong. I ignored it.

I stared at it for a few seconds, feeling slightly sad. So. This is where, if I had found the right place, I was to succeed or fail. I hoped to God that it was the former. With a small sigh, I turned and began to head towards the hotel where I had stayed with the Elric brothers and Nina. I would pick up Nina and ask the boys when we planned to leave, then tell them that I was staying for a bit longer. Hopefully, they wouldn't ask any questions.

I didn't turn around to look at the phonebooth once.

* * *

Nina jumped at me and nearly knocked me over the moment I opened the door. Luckily, I managed to right myself. My arms instinctively wrapped around the small dog-girl and I gave a surprised laugh. "Hello to you, too."

"Welcome h...home!" Nina stumbled slightly on the words, but I could definitely tell that her speech was improving. For some reason, that thought made me feel a bit sad again.

"Aw, thank you, Nina! How was your night?"

"Big Br...other Al...talked to Big Brother Ed on the phone.." Nina gave a small shrug. "I...think we're...leaving tom...orrow. They didn't s...say where."

_Tomorrow? Dear god, that's far too soon…_ I gave a sigh and forced a smile on my face. "Oh? Thank you for telling me. Where are they right now?"

Nina said nothing, just looked at me with a cocked head. I could tell that she knew that I was keeping something from her. Well...if she thought so, then there was no point in me not telling her at least a bit.

"Hey, baby girl?" The endearment slipped out of my mouth before I could think of it, and I gave a small wince. Nina didn't look like she minded, though. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Mmhm…"

"I'll tell Big Brother Ed and Al later, but...I'm not going to be on the train with you. Not immediately. I need to do something before I join you, okay?"

She gave a small nod. "Okay…" Without warning, she nuzzled her face in my neck. "Stay...safe, okay?"

I grinned down at her. "Of course. Don't worry won't get in trouble."

"Doubt it."

...Unfortunately, she had a point. Nina gave her small snuffle-laugh, not doubt amused by the slightly pained look on my face. "Yes, well…Where are the boys?"

"Out. Dunno where."

"Hm...okay. I suppose I'll talk to them later. For now, do you want to go out?"

"Mmkay. Can we...get ice cream?"

"Of course."

* * *

Surprisingly, Ed and Al were at the ice cream shop where Nina and I went. Their heads were fairly close together, and Ed looked serious, as if what they were discussing was extremely important. If that was so, I had no idea why they'd choose an ice cream shop to talk, but whatever. I just hoped that they weren't talking about things that were too secretive. It'd definitely suck and be more than a bit sad if somebody that could kill us learned crucial information while they ordered vanilla ice cream. Not that I have anything against vanilla ice cream, of course.

I plopped down in an empty chair next to them and slumped a bit, putting my arms behind my head. Nina went to sit near Ed. "I hope you're not talking of things of national importance."

The two of them started and turned to me, Ed's face clearly showing relief when he saw me. "Oh, it's just you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Just me." A waiter saw me and came over, asking what I wanted. "Oh, uh, just a chocolate milkshake, please. And a bowl of vanilla ice cream."

"No, we weren't talking about anything like that," Al told me, shaking his head slightly. "We were talking about...maybe…" Now his head began to actually shake. "Going to...see...Teacher…"

I knew that it was coming, but I couldn't stop the shiver of terror that went down my spine. _Dear God. She's going to kill us all._ With a shaky exhale, I laid my head down on the table. "Sig's going to sell us in the butcher's shop…"

"I'm too young to die…" Ed moaned.

Al's entire body just began to shake.

The waiter came with my milkshake and Nina's ice cream. I took them without paying much attention to what I was doing and passed the ice cream down to Nina.

Nina began happily eating, oblivious to our despair.

* * *

After a bit more of despairing and mentally writing our wills, we finally got around to actually discussing going to Dublith. It turned out that they indeed planned to go tomorrow and apparently Winry was going with them.

"But, of course, you probably already knew it all." Ed pointed out, eyebrow raised. I gave a small shrug and didn't say a word. He was right, of course, but it helped to have a confirmation.

"Something wrong?" Al asked. "You look like you're going to tell us something that we're not going to like."

I gave a small laugh. Of course, they could read me pretty well. "Yeah, I'm not going to be joining you guys."

Ed's eyes widened. "You're going to leave us alone with Teacher?!"

"As much as I'd love to do that...no, I need to talk to Teacher, too. I'm just not going to join you just yet. I have some stuff to do."

"Like? Is there anything we can help with?" Al asked.

I shook my head. "No, no, it's fine. It's nothing serious. I can handle it myself." A bit of guilt shot through me, but I ignored it. _They don't need to know,_ I told myself. _Ignorance is bliss._

The boys exchanged a look, but said nothing.

"So," I asked, swiftly changing the subject, "You guys are taking a detour to Rush Valley, right?"

"Don't remind me," Ed groaned. "Winry won't stop talking about it."

"Just don't let her convince you to get stuff."

"She's going to go bleed us dry of money..."

A soldier hurried past the shop, paused, then backtracked to look through the window. He looked at me and rushed inside.

"Ms. Morgan?"

"Yes, that's me."

"A message from Colonel Mustang." He passed me a folded piece of paper.

I cautiously opened it and read the message.

_Morgan,_

_The materials for the operation are here. Please inform me when the operation is commencing._

_Mustang_

I sighed and nearly refolded the paper when a thought struck me. I quickly reopened the note then turned to the soldier. "Do you have a pen, by any chance?" He nodded and produced a pen, tossing it to me. I caught it and scribbled a quick _Tomorrow_ on the note, then refolded it and handed it back to the soldier. "Make sure he gets this, please. Is there anything else?"

"No, ma'am." He saluted, then turned and left.

"What was that about?" Al asked me.

I forced myself to give a nonchalant shrug. "He just wanted to ask me about something."

"Oh?"

"It's...nothing special."


	39. Chapter 36

**A/N: And lo and behold, an update that isn't a month after the last one!**

**Mati: We thought you guys deserved it. :)**

**Piper: We're also updating a one-shot that we wrote a while ago with this, which will be in the usual place where we put the one-shots.**

**Lilli: This chapter is mostly filler, but the Hughes chapter is indeed coming up in the next chapter! In fact, we're going to start it the minute we post everything!**

**Piper: The end is nigh...**

**Mati: Don't say things like that! D:**

**Disclaimer: We own everything...except for Ed, Al, Mustang, most of the other characters, the setting, some of the plot...**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six

I stood on the platform and watched as Ed, Al, and Winry boarded the train, waving whenever they turned back to look at me. Nina stood beside me. Armstrong, Ross, Brosh, Elysia and Gracia were down further, actually standing at the train boarding platform. Due to my new paranoia and Nina's insecurity, the two of us had stayed behind, avoiding the large crowd ahead.

My hand reached down and I absentmindedly began petting Nina. Although it might be dangerous to stay with me, I didn't feel comfortable letting Nina out of my sight. Evidently she echoed my sentiments, because she agreed when I proposed it to Al and Ed. Al seemed unsure, which was understandable, but Ed just gave a nod and that was that.

I saw a blue flash out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Hughes. I relaxed a bit and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, giving a small smile and a one-armed hug. "Hey, Hughes. If you want to see them, they're already on the train."

"Ah, good. Yeah, Roy has a message for Ed. I ended up being the messenger, for some reason." Hughes gave a good-natured chuckle. "Are you not going with them?"

"No, I still have some work to do here. I think it'll only take a day or two, and then I'm going to join them."

"I see. What kind of work?"

"Nothing really special." There was a small comfortable silence before I spoke up again. "Well, you should go deliver your message. I need to follow you back to Headquarters and talk to Mustang, by the way."

"Right." Hughes gave me a quick grin and headed off towards the train. Nina and I watched him greet Ed and Al with an enthusiastic laugh and wave. They talked for a while, but I couldn't tell what they were talking about; their conversation was drowned out by the clamour of the station and their distance from me. Ed gave a small scowl at something Hughes said, causing Hughes to laugh. No doubt he'd been given Mustang's message.

The train whistle blew, and the train began leaving the station. I gave one last wave when Al looked back at me, then watched Hughes walk back. Without a word, Nina and I joined him and began walking to Headquarters.

"So, what did you tell him?" I asked.

Hughes gave a laugh and a grin. "Oh, nothing special. Just some childish jibes. Honestly, Roy's as bad as Ed sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Nina asked, causing both Hughes and I to laugh. I absentmindedly noticed that she'd been fairly cheery lately. That was good. At the very least, it was better than her being sad. I hated to see her like that.

There was a pause before I spoke up again. "So, where are you going?"

"Ah, I'm just going to be looking at reports. Same old, same old."

"What kind?"

"Just whatever comes in." Hughes stopped and turned to look at me. "When are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

I gave a small start, then gave a sigh. Of course, he wasn't stupid. He would have noticed any strange behaviour of mine.

Hughes gave a shrug, as if agreeing with me. "It's not hard to tell that there's something on your mind. You've been acting oddly lately, especially around me." There was a pause before he spoke up again. "Is it about me? Is this one of the 'plot points' in our story?"

I gave a small snort at his choice of words. "Yeah, it is."

There was a much longer silence. "So, I'm dying soon." Hughes gave a slightly bitter laugh. "Damn, I never imagined that it was so terrifying to know when you were going to die."

"Don't." The word came out much sharper than I intended it to. "It's not going to happen. I'm not letting you."

Hughes gave me a sad look and didn't say a word. The rest of the way was filled with crushing silence. It was a relief when we reached headquarters and went our separate ways.

I didn't respond when Nina asked me if I was okay.

* * *

If Mustang noticed that I looked more worried than usual, he didn't comment on it. He just gave me a small nod and a gesture to the chair in front of his desk.

I sat down and took off my coat. Nina sat down next to my chair.

"So?" Mustang's voice was authoritative. He was all business, no emotion. I could imagine him sitting at the seat of the Fuhrer and commanding the nation.

He'd make a good leader.

I cleared my throat and spoke up. "I think I've found the place. We just have to set our supplies there and wait." A thought struck me and I jerked in my seat slightly, sitting up straight even more. "Wait! The safehouse! Wh-How-"

Mustang cut me off with a small wave of his hand and a smirk. "Already ahead of you. I have some of my men prepared to take him to a safehouse in Creta."

_Oh, thank god._ I gave a relieved sigh and slumped down in my seat. "God, I can't believe I forgot about the safehouse until now…"

"Luckily for us, I don't forget about crucial details."

I shot him a glare.

"Do you have a time?"

"No. All I know is that it's at night."

"That's not much to go on…"

"I know. Sorry about that."

"We'll just have to work on what we have. I'll have Havoc be on lookout. Are you going to stay with him?"

"Yeah, do you want me to pick up the supplies while I'm heading there?"

He gave a nod. "I bought them at Laurens'. It's a big store on Rosa Street."

"Got it. Oh…"

"Something wrong?"

I gave a sigh and covered my face with my hand. _Please tell me that this isn't going to screw up everything._ "Do you guys have any technology that can read and match DNA? Because I'm not sure I know how to replicate Hughes' DNA.."

"Read and match what? What are you talking about?"

_Too early for that, then?_ "Nothing, never mind. I'm just rambling. Do you want me to head out right now?"

"Havoc's still making sure everything's ready. He'll be back in a few hours. Until then, do whatever. Just be back in time to go with him."

I nodded and began to get up. "All right, I'll be in the library, then." Maybe I could use my free time to look into other things.

* * *

I sat down cross-legged, glaring at the stack of books around me. My coat was discarded on a stack nearby, virtually forgotten. As to be expected, the library had no major mention of Creta's alchemy. The Chimera Country had more material in it than this whole library did. That, of course, was a bad sign. Why would a military library not have information on a country and its potentially dangerous alchemy…?

I made a mental note to take better care of The Chimera Country. Currently, it was just lying in my suitcase. I hadn't gotten to read much of it, since the last few days were crazy. I now resolved to read it whenever I , and hide it. It seemed like the information in it was more valuable than I had originally thought.

I sensed someone approaching, and I looked up to see Havoc smiling at me. "Hey there, Angie. You ready to go?"

I gave him a small smile in return and stood up, reaching behind me to grab my coat. "Ready as ever."


	40. Chapter 37

**A/N: And now, the chapter you've been waiting for!**

**Piper: *dramatic gesture* Hughes' death!**

**Mati: *smacks arm* Don't tell them that.**

**Piper: *evil grin* Spoiler: His head explodes.**

**Lilli: Ignore her. It's true, but ignore her. In any case, we finished this up last night, but couldn't post it. Of course, as a price for us writing all day, we only get a half hour to relax after school today, but...**

**Mati: With any luck, we'll be able to get the next chapter up as fast as this one. Don't keep your hopes up, though.**

**Piper: Enough talking. We should get to the chapter. Expect action, gritty darkness, sadness, and feels galore. *smirk***

**Lilli: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: No.**

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Night was beginning to fall and the air was chilling. I shifted slightly and leaned against the wall of the alley, rubbing my necklace. Besides me, Havoc stared into space, an unlit cigarette hanging lazily in his mouth. He looked relaxed, but I could see that his shoulders were tensed up.

I could understand that. I was as tense as he was.

The supplies sat across from us in a metal basin. For some reason, the sight of the basin made me feel uneasy. I tried not to look at it too much and instead took out my notebook from my pocket. I flipped through the many pages filled with events dialogue that I had written down years ago so I wouldn't forget and finally found the page I was looking for.

Broken lines covered the page. _The military is in grave danger! 2nd Lieutenant Ross has a mole under her left eye! I'm not going down that easily!_ There were some lines that looked like lyrics, but I could only make out "miniskirts", "fancy shirts", and…"diggy-diggy-dark?"

I stared at the page blankly for a few more minutes, then slammed it shut with a sigh, coughing slightly at the dust that rose up from it. So much time had passed since I had written all this information in my book in hopes of them being useful, and now that the time arose, I realised that almost all of it was completely worthless. Great.

"Hey." I turned to look at Havoc. "Relax a bit. We-or at least you-can do this."

I gave a shaky sigh and looked away. "I'm not sure about that."

"Please. I've seen what you can do, Squirt."

"This...This is different."

He gave a small nod. "I know. In any case, I know that you'll try everything you can to save Hughes. Speaking of…" He pulled out a pocketwatch and took a look at it. "It's probably time to do your thing."

"Is it that late already?" I looked at the darkening sky with surprise. "All right, then...I wish we could time this more accurately. If I do this too early, all the blood is going to coagulate."

"Mustang has connections." Havoc shrugged. "He'll find a way to tweak the time of death if you make the body too early."

I gave a sigh. "If you say so…" I stood up and made my way to the basin of ingredients, delicately crouching down and balancing on the balls of my feet so that I wouldn't fall in. I put my hands together as quietly as possible as to avoid attention and began the transmutation. The basin began to crackle and gave out a blue light so bright that I had to slightly avert my eyes.

Finally, the light cleared, indicating that the transmutation was completed. I cautiously looked at the end product.

It was like I had practised with Mustang; a perfect model of Hughes. The sight shouldn't have bothered me, considering that I'd done this multiple times before, with varying degrees of success, but it did. This...body seemed so much realer than the others had. It was like I was looking at Hughes' actual corpse.

A wave of revulsion and horror washed over me and I barely stopped myself from being sick.

Havoc noticed the look on my face. "You okay, Squirt?" When I didn't reply, he waved a hand in front of my face, his voice taking on a worried edge. "Angie? Amestris to Angie. Are you all right?"

I turned away from him and composed myself. My voice came out as a croak. "Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine. Can you lean the-" I choked on the word "body" and had to take a few more deep breaths to avoid throwing up. "Faux-Hughes against the wall? It's harder to manipulate lying down."

He didn't respond, but I heard shuffling and the sound of a body hitting the wall. I tried not to think about it too much.

"Right, everything's set up." Havoc said. I heard him coming close to me and felt a hand on my shoulder. "Now all that's left is to wait."

I gave a shaky breath. "Shouldn't be too long." I finally managed to turn around and face outside of the alley and towards him. I could see the body to the right out of the corner of my eye, but tried to ignore it.

Havoc had a concerned look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but abruptly closed it again, obviously hearing something outside of the alley.

A second later, I heard it too. Someone was coming towards us. He sounded far away, but we could clearly hear his laboured breathing. Every now and then, I heard a grunt of pain. Havoc and I looked at each other, going on high alert. It sounded like Hughes, which meant that it was showtime. Havoc positioned himself right in front of the alley, making sure that he was still out of sight. I made my way over to Faux-Hughes, ignoring my nausea, and prepared to-

_Shit!_ My eyes widened and I hissed to Havoc, "Knife!"

He gave me a confused look.

"He's injured! Give me a knife!"

"I don't have a freaking knife on me!" He hissed back. "Who keeps a knife on them?!"

_Shitshitshitshit_-

"Can't you use your alchemy or something?!"

Oh.

Right.

I quietly transmuted some air into a condensed spike and shoved it towards Faux-Hughes' shoulder. It cut in, spurting blood. Some of it splattered on my face. Something in me snapped at the sound and the feeling, and I gave a small strangled cry. My mind seemed to fill with terror, surrounding me, engulfing me-

"Angie!" Havoc's hissed voice brought me back to reality. "I know this is hard to do, but you have to do this! He's coming!"

I wanted to sit down and curl into a ball, but I knew he was right. I had to focus and do my job. There would be plenty of time to break down later. I gave a choked, "Okay" and focused again.

I transmuted the air again, making it "softer" so that it wouldn't cut. I could feel it becoming longer, and the air began to waver. With a little nudging from me, the air I controlled began to move towards Faux-Hughes, making small popping noises every now and then when I accidentally moved it too fast and created a small vacuum. It finally engulfed the body, forming a shell of slowly moving air around it. You could only see it if you were looking for it.

With some effort, Faux-Hughes pushed himself-_no, itself, don't think of it as a person_-off the wall and stumbled towards Havoc.

The sound of Real Hughes making his way over to us got closer. _Five, four, three, two, one…_

A shadow appeared at the corner of the alley, and Havoc moved quickly, covering his mouth so that he couldn't call out and yanking him sideways. He quickly pulled Hughes' glasses off and put them on Faux-Hughes, and I set the body lurching off towards the phone booth.

Hughes relaxed and put the letter opener that he had been about to shove into Havoc away when he finally recognised us. "Havoc? Lina? What-"

"No time!" I hissed, moving towards them. "When the dummy gets to the phone booth, say what you would have normally said in this position!"

Understanding flashed in his eyes, and he gave me a grim and determined nod. The three of us moved to the edge of the alley, making sure to stick to the shadows, and watched as I moved my creation.

I could feel myself sweating a bit as Faux-Hughes went into the booth and fumbled for the phone. Dear god, this was what I sucked at; precision. It had taken forever for me to do this with Mustang. By some miracle, he (it) picked up the phone and dialled East City HQ.

Hughes cleared his throat at Havoc's pointed look and began speaking. I changed the course of his voice and created a sound channel so that Hughes' voice could be heard on the phone and we could hear the reply. "Get me Roy-I mean, Colonel Mustang! Tell him it's Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!"

"Code, please?"

"Are you-" Hughes swore and fumbled for his notebook. A photo fell out, but Havoc caught it. "Uncle-Sugar-Oliver-Eight-Zero-Zero!"

"One second, sir." A figure walked past the alley towards Faux-Hughes. I held my breath, knowing who it was. Besides me, Havoc and Hughes tensed.

Hughes spoke again, albeit quieter as to not attract Envy's attention. "Hurry up! The military is in grave danger!"

A gun cocked, making my blood run cold.

Maria Ross stood behind Faux-Hughes, her gun pointed at his (its, its) head. "I need you to hand up, Lieutenant Colonel." She said in a sickly sweet voice.

I moved Faux-Hughes' head slightly, making sure that "she" didn't see its blank eyes.

"Second Lieutenant Ross?" Hughes asked, before cutting himself off. He gave a small laugh. "No, you're not her."

"Ross" cocked her head slightly. "What do you mean? I'm Second Lieutenant Ross."

Hughes raised his voice, his eyes flashing. "No, you're not. Second Lieutenant Maria Ross has a mole under her left eye!"

From our rear view, we could see her body stiffen. There was a strained silence before "she" began cackling. "Oh, how reckless of me. How could I forget?" Still cackling, she raised her hand and moved it across her face. "Is that better?"

"Tch." Hughes gave an annoyed noise. I momentarily lost control of an arm, but managed to cover it up. By this time, I was beginning to feel lightheaded. "Listen, whoever you are. I have a wife and kids to get back to. I'm not going down without a fight!"

Faux-Hughes swung around and Envy shot him (it, _it, _it's not alive, it's not _real_) point blank in the chest.

I stopped controlling the air and let the body fall to the ground. With a minute sigh, I leaned against the alley and closed my eyes, trying to recover. So much of my energy had been sapped keeping that thing upright. Now all that was left was to wait for Envy to leave and-

A gunshot shattered my train of thought. My eyes flew open and I looked out of the alley to see Envy shoot Faux-Hughes a third time, this time in the head. Its head literally exploded, splattering all over the floor of the phone booth. Besides me, Hughes and Havoc turned pale.

Clearly satisfied that "Hughes" was truly dead, Envy gave another maniacal laugh. He turned around and left, humming a cheery tune as he passed by.

I waited until he was well out of hearing range before I stumbled to the back of the alley and threw up.

* * *

After my little breakdown, we made our way quickly to what Havoc claimed was a temporary safehouse. I was so weak that I had to rely on Hughes for support, despite the fact that he had his own shoulder injury to worry about.

I gave a weary laugh when the "safehouse" came into view, turning out to be the bar that Roy's "mother" owned. Of course this was the safehouse; why wouldn't it be?

A woman opened the door when Havoc knocked and frantically ushered us inside, closing and locking the door behind us. She escorted us to a room, where lo and behold, Mustang was frantically pacing. He looked up at us when we entered. Relief clearly shone on his face when he saw Hughes. He rushed forward and hugged Hughes, then moved back and grabbed his friend by the shoulders, examining him for any injuries.

Hughes winced when Mustang's hands brushed his wound. "Careful there, Roy."

"Sorry, sorry…" Mustang murmured distractedly before giving a relieved laugh. The cold and logical demeanor he usually wore was nowhere to be seen now. "Dear god, it actually worked. I thought…"

"You sap." Hughes snorted. "If you could hear yourself right now…You sound like Gracia." His face became somber. "Gracia…"

I cleared my throat, grimacing at the lingering taste of puke, and spoke up. "She can't know that you're alive. Elysia can't, either. I'm sorry, Hughes."

He sighed. Mustang motioned to a bed, and Hughes sat down on it. The woman who had let us in went off in search of bandages. "It's...for the best. Whatever "killed" me has to stay convinced." He looked at me with a sad smile. "Lina...thank you so much for saving me."

I looked away and tried to blink back tears.

"So…" Hughes lay one arm against a knee. "What happens now?"

Havoc spoke up. "We're getting you out of the country. You'll be staying in a safehouse in Creta until we get the all-clear."

Hughes gave a nod and moved his hand up to adjust his glasses, grimacing when he simply touched his face.

Mustang gave a small smirk. "We'll get you new glasses, don't worry."

"It's so weird to not feel them…" Hughes whined. Everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

"Anyways…" Havoc continued. "For tonight, you'll be staying here. I'll take you out tomorrow."

"I understand. This has to be fast so that there are less chances of my cover being blown."

I gave a sigh of my own. "I should leave, then…"

"No." Mustang's voice was commanding. "You're staying here. We all are. It's too dangerous for you to be outside at night now."

"But-"

"No buts. Nina will be fine without you."

"I…" My shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. I was too fatigued to fight him. "Okay."

* * *

Hughes and I stood underneath the bar in the secret passageway. Hughes' shoulder had been patched up last night and he looked much better. It was so weird to see him without his glasses. Havoc leaned against a wall a few feet away, smoking a cigarette. Mustang had left before us, saying that he had some business to tend to.

"How long is it going to take you to cross the border?"

Havoc answered. "Probably a few hours at least. It'll be tricky to bypass customs, but we should be able to do it."

Hughes gave me a smile. "Thank you again, Lina. So much."

"Don't…" I looked at the ground. "Don't thank me. I…" _I don't need thanks for caring for a person I care about._

"Hey." His voice was gentle. "Take care of yourself, okay? And watch out for Gracia and Elysia, please."

I didn't speak for fear that I'd begin crying. Instead, I settled for a nod.

Hughes nodded to Havoc, and the two of them began to walk away. I watched them go, something unidentifiable growing in my chest. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer.

"Hughes!"

He turned around, confusion in his eyes.

"I…" The tears I'd been blinking away began coming out. I choked back a sob and spoke again. "When...when you come back, you'd better adopt me!"

He gave a wide grin. "Count on it!"

Tears blurred my vision as he turned back around. "Stay safe...Dad!"


	41. Chapter 38

**A/N: Sorry this is so late guys, I hope you enjoy!**

**Jacky (Angie's Boyfriend): Bad things happen when you let others post your writing on their account. Whoops. Sorry for crappy formatting. Anyways, this is really good so have fun reading! (Please don't kill me…)**

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"I'm sorry, miss, but the last train for Dublith just left. I can get you tickets for tomorrow, though. The earliest train is at 3:30. Will that work?"

"In the afternoon...?"

The ticket lady gave a laugh. "Unfortunately not, sweetheart. 3:30 in the morning."

I tried not to groan as I rubbed my face with my hand. That was just great. I wanted to get to Dublith as soon as possible, as suicidal as that sounded. However...I was really not a morning person. At all. Especially at 3:30 in the _goddamn morning_.

"There are later trains, you know. I can-"

"No, no, it's fine," I sighed as I pulled out some money. "3:30 is fine." I'd just have to sleep early and wake up even earlier than usual. Luckily, Nina was an early waker. She could hopefully wake me up.

The woman gave a nod as she pulled out a ticket. "Here is your ticket. Good luck waking up that early, sweetheart. I know I wouldn't be able to do it."

"Thanks…" I tried to hide my irritation as I took the ticket. I couldn't take my frustration out on her; it wasn't her fault that the train was so early. "Come on, Nina." I looked down, expecting to see the girl chimera next to me.

She wasn't. She wasn't behind me, either. Or anywhere in my sight, for that matter.

"Nina?!" I frantically moved away from the ticket booth, looking all around. The station was so crowded that I could barely see the floor, which made it even harder to see anything or anyone who wasn't at human head level.

"Nina!" I called once more and was finally awarded by a distant bark. I spotted a flash of white fur a few feet away and walked towards it, breaking out into a jog. "Nina, thank god! I was so worried! I thought that I…" My voice and steps faltered as I got closer and the owner of the white fur fully came into my view.

It wasn't Nina. It was nothing more than a white dog that looked up at me quizzically when I came closer.

My heart seemed to stop. If this wasn't Nina, then…

Somehow over the din of the crowd, I heard a shout, followed by a dog's yelp. I swung around to face the noise and saw a man near the entrance yelling and waving his hand. The crowd around him cleared slightly, revealing the source of the yelp.

It was Nina. She was lying on her side, shaking slightly. It looked like he had kicked her, probably for biting him. The man motioned to some people around him and one of them picked Nina up, hefting her over his shoulder like a bag of flour. I began running towards them as the group began to walk out of the station, pushing people aside. I heard some protesting, but ignored them. Nina was being _kidnapped_, dammit! They'd survive a few pushes!

I burst out of the train station and began to look wildly around, trying to see where the group had gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some people from the group rushing around a corner to my right, the one at the end turning his head slightly to make sure they weren't followed. I started towards them, but hesitated. _Should I get help…?_

Another bark snapped me out of it. No, there was no time to get help. The more time that I waited, the more likely it was going to be that Nina was going to be lost. I had to act fast.

Mustang was going to kill me if I got into trouble, though. No doubt he already had a lot of stress on his hands thanks to Hughes' death. If I messed this up, he'd have to deal with a situation worse than one created by Ed.

I gave an amused laugh at the thought before picking up speed and racing after the kidnappers.

I followed at a safe distance behind the group as we dodged around corners and sprinted through alleyways until finally I turned a corner and they were gone. The alley was empty save a single door, which was probably where they'd gone.

Very slowly, I walked up to the door and wrapped my fingers around the handle, opening it as gently as I could as to avoid making noise. Thank god, the door didn't creak at all. It opened silently, letting me pass through undetected-at least undetected by the door.

I found myself in a dark hall, illuminated only by a few lights that swung overhead. The only color in the building was the drab grey concrete floor and the slightly lighter grey walls and ceiling. Large crates rested on the floor and on shelves on either side of me. A warehouse? It seemed like it. At the end of the hall, there was a large door. I could hear people conversing loudly from behind it.

What were Cretans doing here, and why did they have Nina? What did they intend to do with her? My mind tried to come up with all the experiments Creta had done on chimeras in the past, but drew a blank. Was this a new series of experiments, then…?

I cautiously crept closer to the door, looking around to make sure that nobody was lurking in between the crates. The voices got louder until I could hear what they were saying clearly. That's not to say that I knew what they were saying, of course. I couldn't understand the language. It sounded almost musical. Was it Cretan? I'd only heard the language a few times, but it sounded like the little Cretan I remembered.

The talking got even louder than before as I reached for the door handle. _This is it_, I thought. _I'm going to slam this door open and kick some ass. __Nobody_ _tries to kidnap my Nina!_

Just as my hand wrapped around the handle, a door on another side of the room slammed open, startling me and causing me to jerk my hand back. The room went silent.

The clicking of heels broke through the silence. They stopped in where I imagined was the center of the room. An cool female voice spoke up. "Is this the girl?" Her accent was definitely Cretan, like the men, but something was different about hers. Her 'r's seemed to roll less, and her 's's and 'th's sounded a bit more like 'z's.

One of the men spoke up. "Yes, Madelle. We found her in the train station. The girl," he spat out, as if I was less than that, "Wasn't paying attention when we took her."

"I see." There was some shuffling. "Poor dear. What's your name? Mine is Camille. Camille Moreau." So Madelle was a title of some sort. Was she some kind of official? A noble? Someone of power?

There was a small whimper from who I guessed was Nina. "I...want Big Sister."

Moreau gave a sharp intake of breath. "Sœurna? There was another?"

"There was only one chimera with the girl, Madelle." The same man who had been speaking and giving orders to the others told her. Probably the leader of the gang, now that I thought about it.

"Then who is this sœurna?" The furious clicking of heels told me that Moreau was pacing. "Is she the one who did this? Was she taken by someone else?"

Without thinking, I raised my hand and knocked on the door. Everything on the other side went dead silent.

I heard multiple guns cocking, obviously aimed towards the door and gave a small gulp. _Just my luck._ I tried to speak, but no sound came out. Dear god, I was nervous. Hopefully, they wouldn't kill me on sight. Or sound.

I cleared my throat and raised my voice. "Um. Hi."

More silence.

"I'm here to pick up my little sister?" I told the door. "And, uh, I'm guessing you want an explanation. I'd like an explanation, too."

There was some shuffling, then the door opened to reveal the man who had been leading the group in the station. Behind him, I could see his men still pointing guns at me. They were big guns, too.

"Come in, girl," Moreau called from farther behind. I couldn't see her or Nina over the men. "And please explain before we we shoot you."

* * *

I sat cross-legged on the cold concrete floor, Nina to the right of me. My flesh hand absentmindedly pet her, while my automail fingers tapped on the ground.

Moreau stood above us, an unreadable look on her face. She was as gorgeous as her accent, with chocolate-brown hair that was tied up into a bun and startling green eyes. She also had impossibly tall high heels on. I wondered how she managed to balance on them. Running in those heels must be a pain.

"So...yeah." I finished with a sigh. "That's the story. Actually, I'm surprised that you didn't know about it. Wasn't it in the national newspaper?"

"We have not been here long," The leader, whose name I found was Macario, told me. "What little we learned about it said nothing of human chimeras."

I gave a nod. "I see. Well...I've told you my part. Now it's your turn to explain what the hell is going on, and why you kidnapped Nina."

Moreau and Macario exchanged glances before Moreau turned back to me. "We are, how do you say it...chimera activists? Is that the word?" At my nod of approval, she continued, "We received a tip from someone-"

"Who?" I asked.

She gave me a dirty look. "The tip was anonymous. Now, if I may continue?"

"Right, sorry."

Moreau crossed her arms. "We received a tip informing us of the child-Nina? They told us that she was left unattended and urged us to save her from her 'owner'. I...regret that we did not think of looking into her case before taking action, and I apologise for that."

"It's…okay." And it was, mostly. This was really just a misunderstanding. They had good intentions, after all. "What were you planning to do with her?"

This time, it was Macario who spoke up. "We planned to take her across the border to Creta." At my confused look he elaborated. "Our country, unlike yours, decided to go more...organistic."

"Organic," I corrected, and he nodded before explaining more. "Alkemirastry is more the art of creating chimeras than building objects, so we used that to our…" His face scrunched up as he searched for the correct word. "...Advantage?"

"So things like your transport is done by chimeras?"

"And weapons for war." Moreau said quietly. "Creatures that can attack invisibly, creatures that can record conversations and repeat them."

_Wow. So that's why Creta is known as The Chimera Country._ I tried to look unimpressed by the information they had given me. "So?"

"Creta treats their chimeras well, and there are many places that specialise in human chimeras. They have extensive knowledge on how to create them, and also how to undo them. We hoped that Nina would be able to be separated from the animal she is combined with, and if not, given a good life." Macario told me.

I gave a surprised laugh. "Wow. I had no idea that Creta was like that. It seems like an amazing place. However…" I gave a sigh and began to stand up, motioning to Nina to do the same. "I don't think that I can comfortably let Nina out of my sight. I'm sorry, I appreciate the concern, but I just can't let you take her. Now, if you'll excuse me…" I began to walk towards the door. The men around me moved to form a clear path to the door, clearly too stunned to fully comprehend what they were doing.

"Wait." Moreau's voice stopped me in my tracks. I turned around to face her. Something was gleaming in her eyes, something that I wasn't sure I liked. "I apologised for my actions. However, I won't apologise for continuing to go through. Girl...the best thing to do for your sœurna is to take her to a better place for her."

She raised her hand, and the men snapped out of it, pointing their guns at me once more.


	42. Chapter 39

**A/N: Hey, guys! We're back!**

**Mati: Well, kind of. I mean, we're not posting. Jacky is. Speaking of...thanks so much, love. :)**

**Piper: Let's just say that it's hectic over where we are. We barely get time to write and it takes too much time to post. In fact, by the time this is posted, we'll be busy writing or finishing Chapter Forty and the epilogue.**

**Lilli: *grimace* Not sure if we'll finish by the 2 year mark, though, considering that it's in two days. Really sorry about that. That doesn't mean that we won't try our best to get the story done in time.**

**Mati: We're almost done with the story, though! Nearly there, guys! :D And we're at novel length!**

**Piper: Finally. *relieved sigh* That being said...there will be a sequel, name undecided.**

**Mati: There's, uh...probably also going to be a rewrite of at least the first 13/15 chapters or so.**

**Lilli: Let's just say that rereading those chapters revealed a lot of cringe and lack of character development. So...Angeline Morgan will be getting a makeover of sorts. The rewritten chapters will definitely add more character to her and probably change her for the better. This means that the plot will either change (unlikely) or be twisted to show a different view (which is more likely). Her background is also going to be changed to be a lot less...diva-ish. Less dramatic sounding. Hopefully sound more realistic.**

**Piper: *grin* She's still going to be a rich spoiled brat, though.**

**Lilli: Basically everything from our good writing will be untouched. Nevertheless, the entire story with its rewritten parts will be posted as a new story. After we finish this, of course.**

**Mati: Name suggestions for the rewrite or this old story would be appreciated. Should we keep the name and just change the name for this doc, or should we make a new name?**

**Lilli: I...think that's all. Enjoy, and hopefully see you before the 2 year mark!**

**Jacky: 2 years and 40 chapters. Not bad at all, love. I'm sure everyone is awaiting the sequel with bated breath. That being said...A good possible name could be, "The Game is On, Sherlock's Holme" and now Sherlock and Watson are here to help Angeline and they can do alchemy.**

**That'd be really cool.**

**Just saying.**

**Love you.**

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I looked out the train window, rubbing my necklace. At this point, I was sure that it was polished thoroughly. At any other time, I would be petting Nina with my free hand, but…

Best not to think of it. The stress of thinking of Nina coupled in with worrying about Teacher wouldn't be helpful at all. Besides, I also needed to think about what exactly to tell Teacher so that she didn't kill me. Or Al. Or Ed.

I recognised the shift from farmland to Dublith and began to shift myself, getting ready to rush off. Hopefully, I had made it in time to meet up with Ed and Al before our doom.

The station was crowded as usual, but this time, I felt like the crowd of people was closing in on me. My hand began to sweat, so I peeled off both my gloves and put them in my coat pocket. Even with them off, though, I felt panicked. It felt hard to breathe, and soon my coat seemed too tight. Somehow, I managed to rip it off and hang it on my arm. Of course, I still needed to get my luggage. Which was on the other side of the train station.

Through some miracle, I managed to stumble out of the station with all of my things. That's not to say that I was in good condition. I was ready to collapse on the ground and have a minor panic attack when I felt a soft nose nudge my hand. Without even looking, I knew that it was Nina, giving me her silent support. Just that contact was enough for me. My breathing slowed, and I gave Nina a small smile. Thank god she was still with me.

Feeling better, I put my coat back down and nodded to Nina. Together, we walked towards the Curtis house/butchery.

A few roads ahead of the house, I spotted a big suit of armor and a smaller person in red. Unless those were people in really hardcore costume, that was Ed and Al.

"Hey, guys!" I called out, waving. They both turned around, relief clear on their (or at least Ed's) face.

"There you are!" Al exclaimed. "We were worried that you weren't coming."

Ed walked towards me, then stopped, a weird expression on his face. Was that...concern? "Lina, you all right? You don't look so good."

I forced a laugh. "Eh, I'm fine."

He gave a small nod, clearly not convinced. "If you say so."

Al went over to Nina and kneeled down in front of her, rubbing her head. "Hey, Nina. How was everything?"

Nina looked over to me for a second, then turned back to Al. "...Okay."

There was a small, slightly awkward silence before Ed cleared his throat and spoke up. "So. Ready for our doom?"

I gave a strangled laugh. "No."

Al shook his head frantically. "No."

Nina gave a whimper and pushed herself closer to my leg. Obviously, the things we had told her about Teacher had scared her as well.

The smile Ed forced onto his face seemed more like a grimace. "Well, ready or not, we have to do this, so suck it up, you two." He stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me forward. "Come on, Al."

"I don't want to die…" Al moaned as he followed a resigned Ed and a protesting me.

* * *

I gave a yelp and ducked as the door flew open and hit Ed, launching him over me. Behind the door where Teacher wouldn't be able to see him, Al stood as still as he could, basically vibrating with terror. Nina's hair stood up on her back like a cat's and she gave a terrified bark before racing off.

Teacher looked like a demoness. Her eyes had a dangerous look on them that would make (and probably had made before) even an enraged grizzly bear stop what they were doing and run away. She was also partially in the shadows, which made her even more menacing. All in all, she looked pissed off. I'd pity anyone who was the target of her wrath.

I prayed to whatever divine entities were out there besides Truth (because, really, would he help me at all?) that she'd target me last.

And hey! Miracles upon miracles, she focused on Al first. It was if she could sense that there was someone behind the door who needed to be dealt with.

I watched with apprehension and pity as she talked to Al with false sweetness, like a lioness playing with its food. When she put her hand out for him to shake, I looked away. I couldn't see the betrayal. To my right, I noticed Sig standing there impassively. Even he, it seemed, had no pity.

I gave yet another yelp as I heard Al hit the ground.

"And you!" I shut my eyes as I felt Teacher's wrath redirect itself at me. "You're-"

Her voice faltered and stopped. I realised with a start that my coat and gloves were still off. Teacher had seen my arm.

I kept my head down and didn't look at her.

"...What…" Teacher started to say. I'd never heard her so...so scared, so vulnerable. It was horrible. "No. I know what you did. Why?"

"I…" I took a deep breath. I promised myself that this was the moment of truth before. I couldn't back out now. "Maybe we should go inside?"

* * *

We all sat in awkward silence around Teacher's table. I had explained what I had done to get my automail, which also meant that I had to tell her what Ed and Al had done. Needless to say, it was not a very fun experience. Nina, of course, was still out there and nowhere to be found.

I cleared my throat when the silence became too uncomfortable. "So...yeah. I know that you-"

"-That I specifically forbade you three to commit human transmutation?" Teacher's eyes were piercing. "You all knew, but still went ahead with it?"

Ed and Al looked down and said nothing.

I stood my ground. "Yes. We had to. I had to. I'm…We're..." I looked down as well. "We're so sorry."

"You didn't have to do anything!" Teacher growled, slamming her fist down on the table.

I resisted the urge to snark back at her. "Yes, we had to. You don't understand, it had to happen."

"Are you insane?" She looked at me incredulously. "I told you not to do it for a reason! What in the world would justify human transmutation?!"

"The world." She tried to say something else, but I cut her off. "Bad things would have happened if we didn't do what we did. I know it sounds crazy and ridiculous, but please believe me."

"Why?" Teacher asked bluntly.

I looked at her, then at Ed and Al. "I'm sorry, you guys. I wanted to tell you all earlier, but I...couldn't."

Al gave a small nod. "Right, you said you'd tell us here."

Ed gave a bitter laugh and leaned back in his seat, despite Teacher. "This should be good."

I took a deep breath and leaned forward on the table, clasping my hands in front of me. "So, let me start off with saying that I'm not from this world…"

* * *

The silence that came after me explaining what horrible errors we'd committed was awkward, but this was ten times worse. This time I had three people staring at me with incredulous (and thoughtful, in Teacher's case) looks.

I tried not to squirm under the attention and patiently waited for them to speak up.

Without a word, Ed got up from his chair, an unreadable look on his face, and headed towards the door. I stood up abruptly and called out his name as he opened the door, accidentally sending my chair flying in my haste. My coat, which I had draped on the back of the chair, went flying as well.

"Ed! Wait! Where…" He paused for a second before walking out. The door swung closed, and anything that I was going to say died on my lips.

"I don't think you should go after him." Al's quiet voice shook me out of my stunned state. "He needs time." He gave a small laugh. "To be honest, I think I do as well."

I gave a sigh and bent down. I picked up my chair and grabbed my coat, which had fallen a few feet away. Once everything was settled, I sat back down and looked down at the table. Suddenly, my hands seemed really interesting. "I'm sorry, I really am. You know I wanted to tell you…"

"...But you couldn't," Al finished, "And I can see why now. I'll admit that I feel a bit hurt and a betrayed, but I understand." I could hear a bit of a smile in his voice, and it seemed to lift an invisible weight off my chest. God, Al had always been the sweetest and most accepting person I had ever known, and I was glad that hasn't changed. "You've really been looking out for us all this time, haven't you?"

"This is all very touching," Teacher interrupted, "But I have some questions. You may have known important things, but what gave you the right to play God? What gave you the right to manipulate people's lives?"

She was testing me, and we both knew it. I kept my voice calm and composed. "Nothing. I had no right to mess with Ed and Al's lives, or anyone's for that matter. I'm truly sorry for playing God. That being said, I don't regret doing it. Worse things would have happened if I hadn't done what I did."

There was a pause before Teacher nodded, indicating that I had answered to her satisfaction. I gave an internal sigh of relief. "Good. Now, I have some questions regarding the other side of the gate. I'd also like to know how you managed to get here." Al nodded eagerly in agreement.

I gave a slightly surprised laugh. To be completely honest, I hadn't expected everything to go so smoothly. I expected anger and rejection and-

Ed.

Any joy that I felt faded to concern. He obviously hadn't taken the news well. I bit my lip, debating whether to go looking for him or not. Finally, I made my decision. I stood up with a sigh and pushed my chair in. "Thank you two for being so accepting. I'd love to tell you all everything, but it'll have to wait until the morning. Right now, I need to talk to Ed. And, uh, it's probably a good idea for me to look for Nina."

Teacher raised an eye at Nina's unfamiliar name, but Al nodded. "Good luck with Big Brother and finding Nina."

I nodded back before grabbing my coat and heading out the door.

Good luck, indeed. I'd need it.


	43. Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

I found Ed sitting on the lakeshore, absentmindedly skipping rocks along the lake's surface. For once, his hair was unbraided. Nina lay to the right to him, sleeping. I silently walked up to them and sat down on his left.

Without looking at me, he spoke up. "You probably have some things to say."

"Yeah." I put my hands on the ground behind me and leaned back on them. "Ed...I'm sorry. I know that I didn't do the right thing. I know that I had no right to play God. But I don't regret it, and I never will." I gave a sigh. "I...I understand if you never want to trust me again."

"And what about...us?" Molten gold eyes met mine as Ed finally looked at me and wildly gestured to the two of us. "Was this all because I'm some...main character or something?"

I drew back, hurt. "What?! No! What-Why would you think something like that?!"

"It's not an insane assumption." He shot back.

"Sure, but it's wrong!" I sat up and turned my body to face him. "I'm not pretending to like you, you dumbass! I don't need to bloody pretend to like you, especially with you being so stupidly smart and amazing and fun to be around and good looking and-"

With a start, I realised both what I had just said and the fact that somehow during my rant I had gotten uncomfortably close to Ed's face. We stared at each other for a moment before springing apart. My face felt like it was on fire. Since when had I thought all these things about Ed?

"I…" My voice came out as a squeak. "I should go."

"Stay." Ed was looking away, but his face looked as red as I felt.

"I, um." Dammit. "Right. Okay. Can we, uh...pretend that didn't happen?"

"That, uh, sounds like a good plan."

Awkward silence. Ed coughed. "So...what happened with you and Nina?"

How much do I tell him…? I can't tell him too much, I have to keep some of it a secret…

A voice in my head groaned. Idiot. He already know everything. Aren't you supposed to gain his trust?

You can't do this all on your own.

"...First of all, there's something you should know about Hughes..."

* * *

It felt good, finally telling someone everything. It felt good to not have secrets anymore.

I told him everything, from what was supposed to have happened to Hughes to the plan to save him. I recounted the tale of how the plan actually went down, and how Nina was kidnapped for a good cause. I was at the part where they didn't allow us to leave when I faltered.

"...So?" Ed asked. "What happened?"

"I…"

Ed put a hand on my shoulder, which was odd considering the really recent awkwardness between us. "Need time?"

"No, I'm good." I took a deep breath. "Well…"

I backed up slowly, putting my hands up. "Hey, now. Let's just talk about this."

"What's there to talk about?" Moreau's voice was cold. "As much as you care about your sœurna, you're putting what you think is best over the best option for her."

"Hey, hey. Back the hell up. I never said that I wasn't going to let her go. I just don't want her to go without me." And that was true. There was so much about Creta that I didn't know. I needed to know more about the chimera country.

"So why not go now?"

Ed. Al. I need to tell them. "I have things to do."

Moreau gave me an icy stare, then raised her hand again. Her men slowly lowered their guns and stepped back. "I see. And when are you going with her to join us?"

"I'll send word. Happy?"

We stared each other down until Moreau finally nodded and reached into the breast pocket. She pulled out a small card and handed it to me. I took a look at it. Camille Moreau, Chimera Cruelty Foundation. HQ: Poitiers, Creta. [xxxxxxxx] The name and title was repeated in multiple languages underneath.

"Call me when you're ready and we can arrange transportation. We can also arrange some living quarters, if need be."

Macario stepped forward as well and handed me another card. His looked like Moreau's, with the exception of the headquarter location. "You may need this as well. I can provide assistance as well, especially if you are closer to me than Madelle Moreau.

I pocketed the cards and nodded. "Thank you. Now, can we leave?"

The two agents stepped back. "Until we meet, Madelle Morgan," Macario told me, inclining his head slightly.

"Remember what I've told you," Moreau warned me. "Look out for your sœurna."

"I will." I led Nina towards the door and tried to ignore the suddenly uneasy feeling in my chest.

"...So, you're heading off to Creta?"

I gave a hum of confirmation. "I want to do research on chimeras and Alkemirastry. This is probably the best time to do it."

He nodded. "And where are we going?"

"You and Al? Um…" I furrowed my forehead and tried to think. "You're going to meet Greed here, I think. He'll tell you what he is, so I don't think I need to explain. Watch out for the Fuhrer." I thought occured to me, and I snickered. "Oh, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"You forgot to submit a report, didn't you?"

Ed jolted. "OH, SHIT!" He raced off, leaving me laughing hysterically.

* * *

I explained the Creta situation to Al. He was actually a bit jealous that I was going to be able to research internationally, which honestly was very Al. I contacted Mustang, and he managed to set up a fake identity for me (just in case Creta was as hostile as Drachma) and arranged for me to stay with Hughes at the safe house. Luckily, Moreau was near the border, so she could help me get to the safehouse. Everything was sorted out quickly, and I was ready to go in three days.

I now stood in front of the train headed towards Creta, facing Ed, Al, and Teacher. Nina had gone into the train along with all my luggage.

"Stay safe, okay?" Al said, giving me a hug.

I nodded into his chest before pulling back and pulling a notebook out of my coat pocket. "Here, this is for you. Consider it a going-away present."

He took it and inspected it. "What's this?"

"Some stuff about my world. Machines that fly in the air, small music players…"

If Al had eyes, they'd bug out of his head. He looked back at the notebook, handling it gingerly as if it held the secrets of the universe. Maybe to him it did.

I looked to Teacher. "I know that after...I know that I am no longer your student because I broke your rules, but I hope that we can still be…" I made a vague gesture. "Friends?"

She snorted. "I'll admit, you've grown on me despite being a little pain to train. I'm proud to consider you one of my former pupils." That was huge praise coming from her, and I felt myself slightly glowing with pride.

Finally, I looked to Ed. He shifted uncomfortably, and I was embarrassingly reminded of my outburst a few days ago.

"So…" He started.

"So." I echoed.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"No idea, you'll have to keep me updated." I gave a small grin. "Don't wait up for me, okay?"

"Got it." Ed cleared his throat a few times, then spoke again. "Be, uh...be careful."

"Okay." There was a pause. "Well, uh...if that's all, I'm, uh…" I turned around and began walking towards the train, feeling kind of weird.

"Lina!"

I turned back around, eyebrow raised. "Ye-"

A pair of lips covered mine, cutting off anything that I was going to say. My mind went blank. Before I could react, Ed pulled away. His face was slightly flushed. "Be careful," he repeated softly, before kissing me again and racing off. I was left staring dumbly at the place where Ed was standing just a few minutes ago.

I vaguely noticed that Al was chuckling. "Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes owe me money."

Teacher just tsked.

I kept on standing there dumbfounded until the shrill whistle of the train made me snap out of it. I numbly stumbled onto the train, absentmindedly waving goodbye to an amused Al and Teacher.

Nina was sitting in front of the window, laughing. Obviously, she'd seen everything. "Don't...like...him…?" She asked between huffing laughs.

I shoved her and turned away from her, looking out the window. Best not to think about...what had just happened (what did just happen? I felt so confused and lost now). We wouldn't see him again until much later, in any case. Now, I had to focus on Nina and learning about Creta.

I was going off of the story, and I had no idea what was going to happen. The thought both scared and excited me. I'd be away from Ed and Al, but I had faith in them now. If anything happened, they could manage.

Right now, I had my own adventure to go on.

* * *

A cloaked figure walked down the corridor of the train, their hood covering their face. They moved as if they had a purpose, but their steps were silent. A stray hair escaped their hood and was casually brushed back. Light from the windows of open train compartments streamed into the otherwise dark corridor in patches. Many of the closed compartments had curtains drawn, and light from the windows facing outside cast silhouettes on the curtains. In the compartments without windows drawn, people slept peacefully on beds or lounged on seats reading newspapers. The figure walked past all of the compartments without stopping.

At one compartment, however, they paused. The curtains were open, revealing a young woman with long (but ridiculously messy) black hair and a deep blue coat sitting close to the outside window. She was touching her lips and looking out with a slightly dazed look on her face. A dark-haired chimera girl lay next to her, dozing off.

Underneath their cloak, the figure ran a thumb over the handle of a handgun. They wouldn't need it now, not yet. When they killed the girl, they wanted her looking at them and begging for mercy.

They gave a grim smile and walked off towards their own compartment. Justice would come soon. Very, very soon.

[~To be continued~]

* * *

-BEFORE THE AUTHOR'S NOTE-

Creta, or the Creta that I will be writing, is a combination of France and Spain. As such, the language of Cretan will be a mixture/mashup of French and Spanish words. The accents of the Cretans will also vary in description depending on the place that they live; Northern Cretans, who share a border with Amestris, will sound more French, while Southern Cretans will sound more Spanish (this detail may or may not be used, honestly).

Cretan Words So Far:

Sœrna- Sister

Madelle- Miss, a term of respect

A/N: And thus concludes A Brighter Flame, Another Hope! Exactly two years later, and we've made it through! Now, as you all know, the sequel to this (name TBD) will not immediately start. I, uh...need to finish some stories first. My plan is to finish posting Behind Blue Eyes and write a one-shot or two before sorting out my poetry manuscript thing (long story, you can PM me about it if you're interested). Then I'll probably work on rewriting the beginning chapters of A Brighter Flame, Another Hope and reposting the entire story (I've decided to keep the name for the rewrite and simply change the name of this to When I Said I Wanted a Change in Scenery… A mouthful, I know. If it's too long, it'll just be When I Said I Wanted a Change...). Only then will I start working on the sequel. Sorry, guys. Anyways. A lot of thanks are in order, so here they are!

THANK YOU TO:

-Anthem of the Lonely, for keeping me writing and posting in the very beginning. This would never have gotten this far without you.

-The friends that I met while writing this, particularly yoyowezy, The Utterly Fabulous Z, and havarti2. You guys are just...amazing.

-Thoroughly Misguided, who gave me the title that I still have.

-All of the people who reviewed this story; I loved (and still love and will always love) reading what you wrote, no matter how helpful what you said was.

-All of the people who added this story to their favorites. You liked this story enough to add it to your list of good stories, and I can't express how amazing you are!

-All of the people who followed this story. You guys have been my silent support, and reminded me that I have people watching me, even when they don't review.

-Anyone and everyone who gave me constructive criticism; you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

-Nat and Addie, my IRL friends who read this story and surprisingly liked it (especially Addie, who kept refreshing the page to make sure that she never missed an update).

-Jacky, for reading this and not running away. You...words cannot describe how amazing you are. You are my support, one of my best friends, and so much more. And before you ask, yes. It's very awkward to try to write romance now. Nevertheless, I kind of have to keep it a romance now. ._.

-Everyone who bothered to even try to read this, regardless whether they continued or not.

-And you, the person reading this right now. I love you guys so much. Thank you.


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